Until Forever
by CuriousDreamWeaver
Summary: Mild crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Heero's been looking for someone for a very long time and just when he finds them, a whole new enemy steps in. Implied yaoi, 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. Um, I've changed a bit of part 6 and the first part of Heero and Li Mei's Past.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER**   
I don't own any of the GW characters (such a shame too) and I don't own 3x3 Eyes and all that other stuff that goes into disclaimers.   
Yeah, um, This is a GW crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Um, sorry, there's prolly not going to be any Pai or Yakumo popping up anywhere (Sorry fans ^_^) but I am using their concepts and so on and so forth. There is **YAOI** in here so if you don't like it then don't read, ne? Um, pairing's are 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. It's KINDA an AU cuz there's magic and stuff but... not really. 

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**Chapter 1**   
"Ne, Heero! It's raining again!" Large crimson eyes smiled up at him as she tugged him along by his hand. She pulled them both along until they came to the large windows that lined one side of the hall. She kept her grip on his hand but pressed the other flat against the cold glass. She smiled happily, her eyes following the slow path of the water down the smooth surface.   
"It's always raining here, Li Mei." He said in a monotone voice. She turned her head slightly and smiled again. She didn't seem to care that he spoke with no emotion.   
"But I love watching it rain! You know that." She tugged on his hand, bringing him closer to her. She leant against his side, snuggling close when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.   
"I know." He relaxed as he felt her snuggle up against his side. He leant his head down to rest it on the soft dark purple hair on the small girl's head.   
"You'll always be with me, won't you Heero?" He felt her let go of his hand and wrap her arms around his waist. He wrapped his other arm around her and held her tightly.   
"Hn." She took his grunt as an agreement and nuzzled his chest.   
"Love you Heero. Love you lots." A soft, warm smile quirked up the corners of his lips and he kissed the top of her head. His voice was warm and loving.   
"Love you too." 

Heero dragged his eyes away from the window and closed his eyes. It was raining again. He sighed deeply and tried to think of something else. Too many memories were surfacing. He leant his head back against the head board of the bed and tried to force the loneliness and pain back down. He barely succeeded as he listened to the continuous pounding of the rain. It sounded so much like a heart beat. He hated the days when there weren't any missions. Too much time to think about the past.   
"Heero?" He turned and opened his cold blue eyes to see a slight blonde boy at the door.   
"Quatre."   
"Lunch is ready." Heero nodded in acknowledgement and swung his legs off the bed. Quatre had already left the doorway and he could hear his light steps echoing down the hall. He stood up and gave one last glance at the window before he left the room. He was just closing the door when he heard the loud voice of one of his fellow pilots behind him.   
"Oi! Heero!" He rolled his eyes and turned slightly. The smiling face of the self proclaimed Shinigami literally bounced into his line of sight.   
"Duo." He grunted in greeting and turned again, making his way down the hall. He heard a door open down the hall and then a high cry of "Fei-chan!" And then the sound of two bodies hitting the floor.   
"Maxwell!" Heero smirked as he heard the annoyed voice of Wufei berate his lover's overzealous greeting.   
"You know you love it Fei-chan." A muffled "humph" was his response. Heero quickly turned the corner to the kitchen before they started 'sparring' in the hallway again. He was hit by the tempting scent of freshly made pasta and he quickly sat himself down on one of the chairs at the large round table. Quatre was busy taking some bread out of the stove and putting pasta into a large bowl. Plates and cutlery had already been set out on the table. Heero nodded to the other occupant of the table, the tall acrobat with a single gravity defying bang that hid one of his emerald green eyes.   
"Trowa."   
"Heero."   
"I made pasta and toasted some bread." Quatre cheerfully said as he set the bowl of pasta down in the middle of the table. Trowa stood and took the pan of hot bread and placed it on top of a raised cooling frame that was next to the pasta bowl.   
"Smells good Q-man!" Duo said.   
"Maxwell, will you kindly stop dragging me? I can walk by myself." Wufei snorted as he straightened his clothing.   
"Aw... C'mon Fei-chan." Duo whined and pouted as he sat down next to Heero. Wufei rolled his eyes and sat down next to Duo. As soon as Quatre sat down, they all started eating. With Duo at the table, it didn't stay quiet for long.   
"Man! I hate it when it rains." Duo said with a glance out the kitchen window. Heero followed his gaze and his hands tightened slightly around the knife and fork in his hands. He quickly averted his gaze and concentrated on his food.   
"Well, it's not like it rains everyday here, Duo." Quatre put in. Heero's hands tightened just a little bit more. He tried to tune them out.   
"It'll be finished in no time. You can go out and terrorise the neighbourhood later." Wufei said as he twirled the long strings of pasta around his fork. Duo pouted and bit into a piece of toasted bread he had snagged off the tray.   
"But then it'll be all wet outside." He whined.   
"I thought you liked jumping into puddles." Wufei said blandly, memories of numerous misadventures obviously swimming around in his head. Duo's eyes lit up.   
"Yeah! Puddles!" Heero stood up silently, not willing to listen to anymore of their talk about rain. He ignored the surprised questions from his fellow gundam pilots and strode quickly from the room. He opened the door to his room and slammed it shut behind him. He stood in front of his door stiffly, just staring out the window opposite him for a long moment before his shoulders slumped and he sat down heavily on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands.   
"Why did it have to rain?" He asked out loud as he squeezed his eyes shut. Despite his cool and uncaring demeanour, he did actually have feelings and whenever something reminded him of her, he found it hard to hold them back. She had been such an important part of his life for so long. He had spent years and years looking for her, searching for his lover, ever since they had been brutally ripped apart. He was still alive so he knew she was still alive. Somewhere out there. He glanced out the window sadly and watched the rain trace its way down the cold glass. He heard footsteps approaching his door and immediately pulled his memories and emotions under control and pushed his Perfect Soldier persona to the surface. There was a soft knock on the door and he straightened his posture.   
"Heero?" Quatre. They always sent Quatre to come and calm things down, to find things out when people were unwilling to talk.   
"Go away." He said coldly. There was a pause but he knew Quatre was still there, he could feel his presence, hear his breathing.   
"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it?" He glared at the door. No, he didn't want to talk about it. He was about to open his mouth to tell the little blonde Arabian exactly that when a soft beeping from his laptop turned his attention. He got up swiftly and tapped the keyboard. The familiar face of Dr. J appeared, his claw clicking on screen.   
"What is it?" Heero asked in his cold monotone.   
"You have a new mission." Heero nodded.   
"Hn."   
"It will require all five of you. I'm sending you the co-ordinates right now." Heero's eyes hungrily ate up the co-ordinates as they appeared and he looked ready to bolt when J's next words stopped him.   
"Heero. There's something else you need to know about this facility. They've been experimenting with... other worldly creatures. I think you know what I mean." Heero nodded as his eyes narrowed dangerously.   
"Understood." Heero got up to leave.   
"Heero, wait. There's something else I have to tell you. We've found her." Heero's heart stopped beating. There was no need for J to clarify who SHE was. They both knew who he meant. For a long moment he stared dumbly at the doctor's face. His next words jump started Heero's heart beat.   
"She's in the OZ base."   
"Wh-what?" He asked hoarsely. He couldn't have heard right. What would she be doing at an OZ base? "What do you mean?"   
"She's under the facility. She's 'sleeping', I guess you could call it. My informant-" Heero cut him off as he smacked his hands down on the table top, causing everything to rattle and a few things to fly off.   
"Sleeping?" He asked coldly. His eyes had narrowed dangerously. He only knew of one way to keep someone like Li Mei 'asleep'.   
"Wards. High level wards were placed around her in order to keep her dormant. My informant said that she was discovered there when they built the facility over the block of land. There hasn't been anything they could do to break through the wards. They think it has to be deactivated by something. They're getting closer to breaking it. She's still aware of everything around her."   
"How can you be sure?" Heero asked, his Perfect Soldier mind going through several ways to break through the wards.   
"We aren't, but according to the informant, they have been keeping a careful eye on her, keeping track of brain waves. They were very confused to find two operating at the same time but... you know why there are two." He paused. "There are also rumours that OZ has struck up a new alliance. I think you'll know who it is. He goes by the name of Shing." There was the sound of a loud crack. Heero's hands were gripping the edge of the table so hard that a the edge broke off into his hand. He glared at the piece.   
"That son of a-"   
"Heero, I suggest that you and the others depart for your mission immediately. There's no telling exactly what they'll do to her when and if they break the wards." Heero nodded curtly and turned around swiftly. He yanked open the door and ignored the startled look on Quatre's face.   
"Heero-"   
"We're leaving. We have a new mission." Quatre only had time to blink before Heero swept past him and into the kitchen where the other pilot's looked up at him in surprise.   
"Heero, what's going-"   
"We have a new mission." Heero stated coldly as he yanked open the back door and strode purposefully towards the hangar where they kept their gundams.   



	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER**   
I don't own any of the GW characters (such a shame too) and I don't own 3x3 Eyes and all that other stuff that goes into disclaimers.   
Yeah, um, This is a GW crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Um, sorry, there's prolly not going to be any Pai or Yakumo popping up anywhere (Sorry fans ^_^) but I am using their concepts and so on and so forth. There is **YAOI** in here so if you don't like it then don't read, ne? Um, pairing's are 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. It's KINDA an AU cuz there's magic and stuff but... not really. 

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**Chapter 2**   
"We're to destroy the OZ facility and then pick up a package that they are keeping underneath in an underground laboratory and keep it safe until further notice. While we are there, we are to down load as much information as possible." Heero stated in his cold voice as he and the other gundams flew towards the base.   
"What's the package?" Duo's voice broke through the com-link.   
"It's a person."   
"A person?" Quatre asked.   
"Yes." Heero wouldn't say anything else as he shut off his com-links and concentrated on the up coming mission. His hands tightened around the controls as he and the others plunged through the trees and got their first sight of the OZ facility. As it stood in the cleared forest area, rain pelting down on it from above, it looked almost dream like. The grey buildings rose from the ground and seemed to be rather quiet, not much movement. But then again, it was raining and they were probably watching from covered areas.   
"How are we going to approach this?" Wufei peered at the tall watch towers from his video link.   
"Attack from different sides at different times. Trowa, attack the north gates, Quatre the west, Duo the south, Wufei the east. I'll attack from above." Heero said just as he leapt upwards in Wing. The others moved out a moment after him. The ensuing battle involved lots of things blowing up and general chaos and cool explosions.   
  
Heero stepped through the remains of a wall and squinted into the darkness. A broken light flickered in a vain attempt to light up the room, but it was all he needed. He saw what looked like a large door a few meters ahead of him. He jogged forward, his gun held up defensively in case some soldier decided to pop out of the shadows. He heard the others fan out behind him and check out the room as he stopped in front of the door.   
"The lab's on the other side of this door." He said tonelessly as he traced his hands against the flat metal. He reached over his shoulder and dragged the bag off his shoulders. He quickly opened it and took out a smallish block of explosives. He set it up about a foot off the floor in the middle of the door and checked the signal on his remote. He gestured to the others to get out and followed after he confirmed the signal, picking his bag up as he went. He ducked out the hole and pressed himself against the wall along side the others. He nodded to them and then waited for a moment. Then he pressed the button. The resulting explosion shook the already battered compound and Heero had to steady himself against the wall as he waited for the dust and debris to settle down. He ducked through the hole, his gun waving in front of him as the others followed, doing the same. He slowly and cautiously walked towards the hole he had just made and then stepped through it. The room was dark, almost pitch black, but Heero reached into his pack and took out a small flashlight. He threw another one behind him and heard one of the others catch it and the room flared to life under both torches. He looked around. Up against the left wall was a whole line of shadowed glass tubes that appeared to be holding something, what Heero didn't want to know, the far wall was made up huge control panels with an enormous glass window behind it and then the wall on the right was filled with large screens and another series of control panels. Heero took another moment to peer into every nook and cranny of the room with his torch before he set off for the far side of the room to stop in front of the large control panel. Heero started typing away in an effort to pull up information. He was able to quickly to pull up various menus and other assorted information and began to quickly down load them.   
"What the heck are they studying in here?" Duo muttered.   
"What's in those tubes?" Quatre murmured softly as he went to go look at them, Trowa following quietly, his eyes glued to the large tubes.   
Wufei glared around the room, something bothering him. This room felt... weird. That was the only thing he could really say. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end.   
"All righty." Duo rubbed his hands together and started tapping at the keys on the panel experimentally. He crowed as the screen in front of him flickered to life. His fingers moved over the keys as he started to pull up the menu screen.   
"Gah!" Heero turned around at the sound of Quatre's startled yelp. Trowa was hugging a sick looking Quatre as they both turned away from the row of tubes.   
"What?"   
"There are... there are PEOPLE in there!" Quatre choked out as he pointed shakily towards the tubes. "They have THREE EYES!" He yelped. Heero froze.   
"Three eyes?" He asked sharply. Quatre nodded. Heero quickly strode over to the wall, his eyes taking in what was in the tubes. Quatre was right. There were people with three eyes in the tubes. He drew back with a hiss. They all had their eyes open, their faces frozen in looks of pain, horror, terror and anger. There were seven, five women and two men, all together and they were horrifyingly familiar to him. They were the last of the Court.   
"Shimatta. The Court's gone!" Heero muttered to himself.   
"What was that Heero?" Quatre asked as he watched the tubes with horrified fascination.   
"Nothing. We need to find the package. Now." Heero stated coldly.   
"You guys had better look at this!" Duo said. The other three rushed to where Duo and Wufei were reading the information on the screen.   
"These guys were dealing in pretty weird shit." Duo breathed as his eyes darted from side to side as he took in the words.   
"Sanjiyan? What are those?" Heero growled softly and the others turned to look at him. He ignored them and pushed Duo aside, his fingers flying over the keys as he pulled up more information. He suddenly stopped as an image appeared on the screen. A dais about ten feet in diameter and one foot tall was at the bottom of the screen. Above that was a large jagged looking crystal that seemed to float one foot over the dais. It was crystal clear, the female figure in it made Heero suck in a breath. He ignored the looks on his fellow pilots' faces as he enlarged the image.   
Her long dark purple hair was still held away from her face by a large white ribbon, she was wearing her favoured dark blue vest and matching knee length skirt with a long sleeved white button up shirt underneath and her white knee length socks and black buckle shoes. He felt his throat tighten as he watched her face, pale as ever. Her long and thick lashes swept low and created a dark fan against the smooth ivory of her skin. Her small, pert nose was just like he remembered and her pale pink lips were in a straight line, something she seldom ever did, her face usually smiling and happy. But otherwise, she looked like she was sleeping. Heero swallowed. It was then he got a good look at the final ward. A large circlet of gold hung in the air around her waist height, a rune made out of ivory sat in the middle facing him.   
"Shimatta." Heero muttered again as he stared at it. He glared at it as though his glare would burn it away. He turned his head as he read a small text box at the corner of the screen. Then he glanced at the large glass window.   
"The package is on the other side of that window." He started to walk towards the window when Wufei reached out and caught his arm.   
"Yuy, you seem to know what they're doing here. What's going on?"   
"I don't know." Heero said honestly. He didn't know what they were trying to do with the remaining Sanjiyan's of the world but he knew as sure as Hell he wouldn't be leaving the compound without Li Mei. He walked up to the glass window and drew his gun. Without pausing, he fired. The glass shattered and fell like a water fall, the shards spinning off into the dark shadows, some of them catching the light and looking like small stars spinning into the night. As the last pieces of glass fell to the floor, he climbed up onto the sill and jumped down to the ground below and grit his teeth. He could feel the power of the wards, his will determinedly pushing his own power ahead of himself in an attempt to keep it at bay. He heard glass crunching behind him and sensed Duo and Wufei following after him.   
"Yuy, what are you doing?" Heero ignored Wufei and strode purposefully into the dark chamber. He could see a faint light coming from the middle of the room and walked towards it. He suddenly started to slow down, sensing something. He stopped walking and looked to one side and then slowly to the other. A flicker in the corner of his eye drew his gaze to the ground. He glared at the faintly glowing line at his feet, the pale blue glow flickering like a dying flashlight. Heero glanced around the ground and noticed that it was a circle that covered a ten foot radius around the dais. He heard the other pilots approach and then saw a flash of fabric. His hand snapped out and yanked Duo backwards so hard that the lithe body went flying back into Quatre and Trowa.   
"What was that for?!" Duo asked as he pushed himself away from the other two.   
"Yuy." Heero heard Wufei growl dangerously. He glanced behind him and saw the uncertain looks on his friends's faces.   
"Don't step too close. You'll get... fried." He said with a small smirk.   
"What?" Heero shuffled his foot and then kicked a small pebble. There was a brilliant burst of bright blue light and they all drew back with a hiss except for him.   
"See?" He said. He started to walk carefully around the perimeter of the circle, careful to keep out of range of the ward. He paused and tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly.   
"What is this place?" Quatre asked softly as he looked around. Trowa hovered behind him, glancing around.   
"What the Hell is OZ doing with this place?" Duo muttered as he glanced around, quite uncomfortable. He could feel something and it wasn't something good. He felt the reassuring hand of his lover on his shoulder and he flashed Wufei a quick grin.   
"What's that thing? In the middle of the room?" Quatre asked as he squinted through the darkness.   
"It looks a little like a big white... rock?" Duo hazarded. They turned to Heero expectantly. He seemed to know what was happening.   
"It's a crystal." He said tonelessly as he concentrated on finding a weak spot in the warding circle. He stalked slowly to one side, then the other side, his eyes moving up and down as though he could see something they couldn't. They had a feeling that something big was about to happen, the air seemed to get heavier as they watched him.   
"It's that thing from the computer!" Duo said.   
"Heero?" Quatre asked tentatively. Heero didn't listen to him as he carefully reached out and touched the air in front of him. The resulting light show and power wave sent Heero flying backwards.   
"Shimatta!" Heero dug his feels into the ground and barely managed to keep himself on his feet.   
"Yuy! Are you all right?" Wufei grabbed his arm in a steadying manner but Heero shook him off.   
"Hn. Need to break it." He muttered, both to himself and to let the others know what he was going to do.   
"You're going to get killed!" Quatre burst out. Heero smirked over his shoulder at him.   
"No I'm not." There was a flash of light through the invisible barrier and Heero's eyes narrowed.   
"Li Mei." He said aloud. He felt the gaze of the others' on his back.   
"What?" Heero ignored them again and started to lean against his palms. The resulting explosion of light caused everyone to look away.   
"Heero!" Heero grit his teeth against the pain as the wards attacked him viciously. He heard their concerned voices but refused to be distracted. Tendrils of light wrapped and moved against him. He resisted their pull and strained against the barrier as hard as he could.   
"Comeonopencomeonopencomeonopencomeonopencomeonopen!" He chanted under his breath as the magic pushed against him violently, feeling his very being protest and recoil against the wards. He could feel the other pilots running towards him and growled. The wards would rip them to pieces before they could even blink. He extended his own power and blew them off their feet before they could reach him.   
"Trowa! We have to help him!" Quatre and the others struggled to their feet dizzily as they watched Heero.   
"I don't know if he'll let us." Trowa said softly as he glanced at the spectacular light show Heero was producing with the wards. Huge tendrils of light and power were spinning and wrapping around him as he fought against the invisible wall. Suddenly, there was a sound, like the sound of glass breaking but far more grating against ones ears and Heero was forced several feet backwards as the faint circle exploded with light, shards of blue spun into the air and disappeared within moments. The other pilots weren't as lucky and were thrown onto their backs again. They all covered their eyes and when they reopened them, they watched as the light faded away into nothing.   
"Shit man! What the Hell was that?!" Duo's eloquent query was shared by the other three as they watched Heero stand shakily.   
"That was a ward." He said softly as he opened and closed his hands in an effort to work the stiffness and ache from them.   
"What's a ward?" Duo asked as he got up, his gun waving defensively in front of him.   
"A ward generally keeps demons and spirits away." Wufei's voice had dropped a few degrees and Heero could feel his cold gaze on his back. "What are we here for Yuy?"   
"Li Mei." Heero said softly as he started forward. Wufei reached out and spun him around.   
"Yuy! What's here? What are we looking for?" Heero looked at his comrade's face and then looked back over his shoulder towards the dais.   
"Li Mei." He said softly. Wufei stepped back, a surprised look on his face.   
"Yuy?" He asked softly.   
"She's not a demon. Don't worry about that." Heero turned around again and walked carefully but quickly towards the dais.   
"Wait!" Everyone ran after him quickly. 

The faint glow from the crystal was almost hypnotising, a soft pulsating light. He didn't stop walking until he was right in front of the crystal. He looked up at it, noticing how it was clear and see through. He longed to reach in and pull her from her prison but knew he would have to break the ward first. He growled and realised it would not be easy to break through this ward as it had been for the first one. This ward had been placed there by a powerful sorcerer and he wasn't sure how to break it. He raised a hand but before he could get any closer, the ivory rune turned black. He stepped back wearily. That was never a good sign.   
"Heero!" He heard his fellow pilots' cry out as he was suddenly caught up in an explosion of light and power. He screamed as his body seemed to be ripped apart, every single fibre in his body was being pulled in a different direction from the one next to it. Then suddenly, just as quickly as it began, it stopped. 


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER**   
I don't own any of the GW characters (such a shame too) and I don't own 3x3 Eyes and all that other stuff that goes into disclaimers.   
Yeah, um, This is a GW crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Um, sorry, there's prolly not going to be any Pai or Yakumo popping up anywhere (Sorry fans ^_^) but I am using their concepts and so on and so forth. There is **YAOI** in here so if you don't like it then don't read, ne? Um, pairing's are 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. It's KINDA an AU cuz there's magic and stuff but... not really.   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

**Chapter 3**   
He blinked and then realised he was standing in nothingness. He looked all around himself, up, down, everywhere. There was nothing. He was surrounded by darkness.   
"Who are you?" He twisted around and came face to face with the girl in the crystal.   
"Li Mei!" He said, his arms reaching out instinctively to wrap around her. She pulled back, her large eyes narrowing dangerously. It was then that Heero saw the crimson eye staring at him coldly from the middle of her forehead. He stepped back wearily.   
"Shirin..." He said uneasily. Before him stood the violent, unpredictable and vicious counterpart of his beloved Li Mei.   
"How do you know me, human?" She snapped out. She stood straight, tense.   
"I'm Heero. Don't you remember me?" She glared, the crimson of her eyes darkening.   
"I know no one of that name." She paused, looking him up and down, a vicious smile turning up the corners of her lips. "But I do know you are trespassing in our mind."   
"I'm here for Li Mei." He grated out, his unease increasing.   
"Li Mei? She is not aware at this time. I am. And I find it insulting that you have decided to invade our mind so. Prepare to die." She held her right hand out in front of her, a small ball of light appearing in her palm. She clenched her fingers shut, the light extending on either side of her hand. A gold staff about three feet long appeared in her hand, long and cylindrical with a large ring at the end.   
"Shirin! I am not here to harm you! Why don't you remember me?" He snapped out. She didn't reply but slashed her staff at him, an electric blue crescent of energy marking its path through the air. Heero dodged to the side and he twisted around her arm but wasn't fast enough to get her in a lock as she leapt away. He watched as she floated back down to his level, her dark eyes eyeing him carefully.   
"Who are you, to challenge a Royal Sanjiyan?" She asked.   
"I am Heero Yuy!"   
"I know no one of that name!" She cried as she leapt at him, her staff held at her side as she swung in a wide arc. Heero rolled under the slash, coming up behind her and he grabbed her around the chest, pinning her arms to her side.   
"I am Heero Yuy. Why don't you remember me?" He asked again. She snarled, quite insulted that he had touched her and pushed herself backwards and up, the back of her head slamming into his nose. Heero stumbled back with a curse, the unexpected pain causing him to release his hold. He felt her hand touch his chest.   
"How dare you touch me! Die!" She screamed angrily. A ball of electric blue magic gathered where her hand was, the explosion sending him flying backwards, head over heels.   
"Ah!" Heero cried out in pain as the ball ripped right through him. He fell on his face, coughing up blood, his eyes clenched shut in agony as his body refused to die.   
"What? You're still alive? What are you?" He cracked open an eye and saw her feet. He looked up slowly, sluggishly to meet her angry and curious gaze. She sat down by him, quite confident that he couldn't hurt her.   
"I am Heero Yuy."   
"You have said that before human. It means nothing to me."   
"I am the Wu of Princess Li Mei." An angry hiss and Heero cried out again in pain as he was hauled to his knees, an angry Sanjiyan glaring at him as she held him up by his hair.   
"Li Mei has NO Wu! I would know if she did! She has not chosen a protector and would never choose one without my knowledge or consultation! You lie!" She threw him viciously across the area where he rolled to a stop, groaning in pain. But yet, there was no denying that he was still alive after having his chest blown apart. She glared at him from across the shadowed area, eyes calculating in their inspection.   
"I am Heero Yuy. Wu of Princess Li Mei. Why don't you remember?" Heero gasped out as he lay there, too weak to move but too stubborn to give up to the pain. Even as he spoke, he could feel his body regenerating, slowly and painfully.   
"You keep repeating that human. I have no knowledge of what you speak of." She said coldly.   
"I am Heero Yuy, Wu of Princess Li Mei." He repeated stubbornly.   
"Silence! You are not! How dare you say that!" Heero was sent flying by another energy blast. He didn't even scream this time, all he could manage was a painful groan as his blood pooled around him.   
"Will you tell me the truth or not? I am speaking to you, human!" He jerked as she kicked him viciously in the side.   
"I am Heero Yuy, Wu of Princess Li Mei." Another savage kick made him roll a few times, his barely regenerated ribs cracking under the force. He hissed.   
"That was not the answer I was looking for. I repeat my question. Who. Are. You?" She grated out between clenched teeth.   
"I am Hee-" She cut him off before he could finish his sentence, grabbing him around the neck and dragging him to his knees. She snarled down at him angrily.   
"You speak nonsense!"   
"I am Heero Yuy. Wu of-" She slapped him. He coughed slightly as blood dribbled down his chin. "Wu of Princess Li Mei."   
"Liar! If you tell me the truth, I will end your pain." She began to crush his throat in her deceptively slender hand. Heero struggled to breathe, to speak.   
"I... am He-Heero Y-Yu-Yuy. Wu... of Prin...cess Li Mei."   
"Maggot! You continue to lie!" She screamed, back handing him angrily. Heero heard the loud crack as his jaw broke and he groaned.   
"If you tell me the truth, I will stop your pain." She tightened her grip around his throat.   
"I... 'm H'ro Yuy. Wu of Princess Li Mei." He choked out despite his pain.   
"Shirin! That is enough!" The pressure around his throat disappeared and he slumped forward onto his hands and knees as he sucked in air despite his ruined jaw. He grunted in pain as his body began to heal itself. A pair of slim, warm arms wrapped around him tightly, protectively and he looked to the side. Crimson eyes and a smooth forehead greeted him.   
"Heero? Are you all right?" He nodded slowly. She smiled widely and a pale electric blue glow surrounded them both as she sped up his healing. Within moments, the agony that had raced through his system faded away and he wrapped his arms tightly around the small, slim girl who sat by his side.   
"Li Mei!" He said, desperately, afraid that this was all a trick his mind was playing on him. He looked down into her familiar face, loving smile and felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. He ducked his head, crushing his lips against hers, her soft gasp of welcome drove him to deepen the kiss and he tilted his head to the side slightly as he poured everything he was feeling into the kiss. The hope, the passion, the desperation, the fear and finally, the love. All the love he felt for her was expressed in the kiss and she melted in his arms. He groaned softly as she returned everything in his kiss.   
"Oh Li Mei..." He said softly against her lips and he felt her smile in return.   
"This is all very well and touching, but you're making me sick." The scornful voice off to the side made him growl and he turned his face away to glare at the blood stained girl standing off to the side. She growled back.   
"Stop it Shirin. I think you've done enough." Li Mei said curtly as she lowered her head to rest against Heero's chest.   
"Oh come on. I was just making sure that he hadn't turned into a weak and pathetic excuse of a protector in the years we've been separated. You know how his kind tend to get. All weak and weepy." She muttered, another scornful look tossed in Heero's direction before she looked away.   
"Humans aren't weak, Shirin." Heero replied coldly. She snorted.   
"Yeah. Right." Hero looked as though he was about to say something else but Li Mei suddenly punched him in the stomach. It didn't hurt but it made him turn to her in surprise.   
"What?" He asked, his eyes wide. She was frowning up at him.   
"You. You left me all alone. I was scared." His eyes softened.   
"I'm sorry." She buried her face against his chest.   
"I hate you." She muttered. Heero stroked her hair lightly.   
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave you alone. I was forced to." She nodded against his chest.   
"I didn't mean it. I love you so much. Love you Heero. Love you lots." The familiar phrase brought tears to his eyes.   
"Love you too." He choked out. He pressed his cheek against the soft silk of her hair as he hugged her tightly.   
"It's good to see you haven't become weaker in the four hundred years of my absence. I would hate to see you become weak and pathetic like your kind is so prone to becoming over time." He looked at Shirin from the corner of his eye and snorted.   
"I'm not really human anymore." He said baldly.   
"That's right. You're part of the undead now, aren't you?" She laughed, a strange sound, reminding him of an insane maniac and he told her so.   
"I'm not insane." She retorted.   
"Hn." He remarked. She grinned again and stepped back, sitting down on a large throne that had risen up behind her.   
"Despite my... welcome," Heero snorted and rolled his neck slightly in remembrance, "I am quite glad to see you."   
"I can imagine." He replied dryly. She laughed again.   
"Ah. Ever so witty." She said sarcastically.   
"Hn."   
"Talkative as ever, as well. I just can't see what Li Mei sees in you." Heero rolled his eyes, already knowing what was coming. He'd heard this before. She snorted when she saw his gesture.   
"You're so boring Heero."   
"He is not!"   
"You're so easy to bait Li Mei, my dear." Her Sanjiyan muttered. "Where he's concerned, anyway." She added as an after thought. Li Mei stuck her tongue out at her and Shirin returned the gesture, quite unexpected from her outward personality.   
"So you were just testing me? All that... violence was a test?" She smirked.   
"That and I love seeing blood." Li Mei sighed and Heero rolled his eyes.   
"You're weird." Li Mei said.   
"But that's why you love me." Shirin said with a wink.   
"A bit hard not to. You do share my body."   
"True. True." Her eyes suddenly turned serious. "But Heero, seriously, I can sense the brooding of the world beyond our crystal prison/haven. What's going on?" She demanded.   
"Yes. There is a war going on right now." He stated. He felt Li Mei's arms tighten around him and he stroked her hair comfortingly.   
"How predictable. You human's can't keep yourselves from killing each other for very long, can you?"   
"Sanjiyan's were responsible for the death of the entire Court and far beyond." He said coldly. Shirin had enough grace to flush and look away.   
"What kind of war? Are there lots of people dying?" Li Mei asked softly.   
"Lots of people die in wars."   
"Are you a soldier?"   
"You could say that." He said hesitantly.   
"What do you mean?" He shrugged slightly.   
"You have to see it to believe it." She nuzzled his neck and rubbed his back.   
"I can imagine what you've been up to in the last four hundred years." She said in amusement. He smiled, a genuine smile, his entire body relaxing and he hugged her, grateful for her familiar warmth.   
"What is this place?" Heero asked after a moment as he stared around the barren landscape.   
"It's a minds cape of sorts. We have been completely aware of everything around us since we were sealed." Li Mei tightened her grip around him and he frowned slightly.   
"I missed you so much Heero..." She leant up and kissed him deeply, craving the intimate contact that they had both been denied for so long.   
"I'm so sorry I couldn't find you before." He hugged her reassuringly, knowing her extreme dislike, fear even, of being alone.   
"It's okay. I could feel you searching for me. I couldn't help..." She trailed off and sighed deeply.   
"That's all right. I found you and that's all that's important."   
"Mm." She murmured under the comforting caress of his hand against her hair.   
"How are we going to break the final ward?" Heero questioned as after a while.   
"What ward?" Shirin asked as she sulked, annoyed at not having Li Mei's attention on her as she had for the past four hundred years.   
"The ward that was placed on the crystal casing."   
"Oh. That. It's already broken." Shirin replied.   
"What?" Heero asked dumbly.   
"You broke it. When I acknowledged you as our Wu, it broke." Shirin sighed in boredom as she started hanging over the arm of the throne, her head almost touching the ground. "So... as of now, we're free to go. I mean, we haven't moved in four hundred years!   
"So... are we getting out of this place or not?" Shirin asked irritably as she sat up and kicked at an imaginary rock on the ground. Heero nodded slowly and stood up, pulling Li Mei with him.   
"Yes."   
"Good. I was getting bored of this place!" There was a brilliant flash of light and they disappeared.   
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[1] This is part of the scene in the anime where Yakumo's 'bout to cut Mycine into pieces. Y'know, the part right after Pai's shot Ryouko (that ugly purple thing that kidnapped Steve Long). 


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER**   
I don't own any of the GW characters (such a shame too) and I don't own 3x3 Eyes and all that other stuff that goes into disclaimers.   
Yeah, um, This is a GW crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Um, sorry, there's prolly not going to be any Pai or Yakumo popping up anywhere (Sorry fans ^_^) but I am using   
their concepts and so on and so forth. There is YAOI in here so if you don't like it then don't read, ne? Um, pairing's are 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. It's KINDA an AU cuz there's   
magic and stuff but... not really.   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
**Chapter 4**   
Quatre was slapping Heero's cheek lightly, a worried look on his face. Heero had been out for at least twenty minutes and he showed no signs of waking soon. They hadn't seen any sign of OZ but there was no telling what could happen soon. He's been left to watch Heero as the others took up defensive positions around the crystal, eyeing it wearily but not doing anything to it. What worried Quatre the most was the gurgling noises Heero had made, the way his boy had jerked around and finally the blood. There was blood leaking out from between his slightly parted lips. His Space Heart had also picked up several mixed emotions that he hadn't expected the stoic pilot to express in a situation like this. Fear, desperation, amusement and love. Strong, unadulterated love. He almost cried at the intensity of it.   
"Heero? Heero, wake up. Come on, wake up." He slapped his cheek lightly. A moment later, Heero's eyes snapped open and his entire body jerked, startling everyone.   
"Hn." His eyes closed slightly and then opened again. He sat up and looked around, his eyes falling onto the large crystal that Trowa and Wufei and Duo were standing in front of, their guns raised slightly.   
"He's awake!" Quatre chirped as he gently reached out to steady Heero as he wavered slightly.   
"Hey man! Are you okay?" Duo asked as he looked at him from the corner of his eye.   
"Hn." Heero stood up.   
"You shouldn't try to stand..." Quatre trailed off as Heero pointedly ignored him and walked up to the others.   
"Move." Heero said as he came to a stop directly behind the other three.   
"What if it attacks you again?" Wufei asked.   
"I broke the ward. It's not going to be doing anything any time soon." He pushed them aside and they watched wearily as he stepped up to the crystal. He reached up and grabbed the ivory rune and crushed it in his hand. The golden ring that surrounded the crystal glowed brightly and he heard the other pilots raise their guns.   
"Put your guns down." He said. He didn't want Li Mei to be frightened when she woke up. Besides, the sight would probably awaken Shirin and he was in no mood to be ripped apart protecting the others.   
"What? Are you out of your mind? What if that thing's a demon?" Heero turned and glared coldly at Wufei, his gaze cold enough to make even Wufei shiver. He turned back to the glowing ring.   
"She's not a demon. Never say that again." Wufei nodded even though Heero couldn't see him. The glowing finally died down and they waited with bated breath as the ring flashed once more and then disappeared. Heero seemed to reach out but before he could touch the crystal, the entire thing cracked. Tiny, minute spider webs of cracks marred the surface of the crystal. Before anyone could move, it broke, several large chunks hitting the ground with an audible glass like sound and then they disappeared. The girl floated in the air for long tense moments and other pilots could only gape as they watched her eyes flutter open, the deep crimson enough to make them pause and stare. As a sleeping statue she was pretty, but alive and breathing, she was breath taking. She slowly, very slowly, uncrossed her arms from around her chest and flexed her fingers, her eyes blinked one, twice and then she lowered her head slightly to meet Heero's gaze. She smiled, her full lips turning up.   
"Heero!" She breathed as she moved forward, her long legs stepping out into thin air. Her voice was soft, sweet. She floated down to the ground, her feet touching down on the dais was the only sound in the room. They watched, stupefied, as Heero reached out and pulled the girl into a crushing embrace.   
"Li Mei!" They heard him say softly.   
"I've missed you." She said back softly. They watched as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down. They stared in a amazement as he not only returned the kiss but bent her backwards over his arm as he deepened it. 

Heero slowly eased away from the kiss, his eyes warm as he smiled down at the small girl in his arms. He straightened and held her tightly against his chest. He tucked her head under his chin and rubbed his cheek against her silky hair. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity until Li Mei moved away slightly. She stood back, still holding onto his left hand and looked him over.   
"A tank top and bike shorts?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.   
"Spandex." Heero corrected with a small smile.   
"Spandex. Mm... Not that you don't look good in it, but why the change of clothes?"   
"You mean he wears things other than..." The voice trailed off as Li Mei peered around Heero's shoulder. She saw four boys, all teenage boys. There was a tall slender one with an interesting gravity defying bang who stood protectively by a shorter and more child like blonde. The one that had spoken had a long chestnut brown braid and was wearing a black priest's outfit and the last boy was wearing white Chinese robes and had his black hair pulled back into a severe ponytail.   
"Are these your friends Heero?" She asked. He jerked up, remembering their presence. He turned to see his friends looking at him with varying degrees of disbelief. He smirked.   
"Hn."   
"Really? Wow! That's great!" She beamed happily at them and walked forward, tugging Heero behind her. She stopped a few feet away and bowed deeply.   
"My name's Li Mei. I'm so pleased to meet you!" She raised a hand in greeting.   
"Er..." They stared at her dumbly, quite startled by her behaviour and Heero's rather unexpected and his puzzling relationship to her. Her smiled faltered slightly and she tilted her head to Heero.   
"Do they talk?" She whispered.   
"Sometimes the one with a braid won't shut up." He smirked.   
"Hey!" Duo said indignantly.   
"Uh... Hi." Quatre was the first to respond to her greeting as he glanced uncertainly at Trowa beside him. Trowa was still staring at the pair with amazement in his eyes, if not on his face. Quatre shook himself out of his daze, his well ingrained manners deciding to kick in and he smiled tentatively at her and offered his hand.   
"What's your name?" Li Mei asked as she reached out to take his hand in a warm and gentle grip.   
"I'm Quatre. Quatre Reberba Winner..." Quatre wasn't quite sure to make of this. This young girl, who looked no more than fourteen, had just come out of a block of crystal. She knew Heero's name. She even kissed Heero and he hadn't tried to kill her, in fact, he had hugged her and kissed her back.   
"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Winner." She had a very charming smile. Quatre felt his face flush slightly and he shook his head.   
"Just Quatre's fine."   
"All right Quatre." Duo took the initiative and introduced himself next.   
"I'm Duo. Duo Maxwell. I run, I hide, I never lie." He winked and Li Mei giggled softly.   
"Pleased to meet you Mr-" Duo shook his head.   
"Duo's fine. After all, any friend of the Perfect Soldier is a friend of ours." Li Mei looked at Heero and then giggled at his sour expression.   
"It's very nice to meet you Duo." She glanced at the two silent men by the other two. The tall one was watching her with an impassive expression on his face but there was a hint of curiosity flitting through the emerald eye that wasn't covered by his bang. The other one, the black haired one was looking at her with something akin to hostility and a lot of mistrust. She flinched slightly and looked away in an attempt to look as though she didn't notice. Heero frowned at Wufei in annoyance.   
"This is Trowa Barton. Just call him Trowa." Quatre gestured to the taller boy when the taller boy nodded to something Quatre had whispered to him. Li Mei smiled   
"Nice to meet you Trowa." She smiled and Trowa nodded his head slightly.   
"This here's Wufei." Duo said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. Wufei growled softly and glared at her. Li Mei gave him a small, timid smile as he glared. Heero growled at Wufei but Li Mei tugged on his sleeve and she tilted her head up at him with a smile.   
"You've got very nice friends Heero." Heero grunted, casting Wufei a cold glance. The other boy didn't back down as his eyes shifted distrustfully towards Li Mei.   
"How do you know Heero?" Duo asked in his normal straight forward fashion. Li Mei was about to reply when Heero started to talk.   
"We can talk about this later. We should return to our gundams first." Heero said as he started towards the broken glass window. While the others moved, Li Mei didn't budge. Her eyes had widened slightly and she paled.   
"Don't go that way." She said softly.   
"Why not? We came in that way." Duo said as he turned to look at her over his shoulder. Heero looked down at her in concern.   
"I... The Court's in there... Dead." She whispered. Quatre's eyes widened in understanding. She knew who those people in the tubes were! A slight trickle of emotions made their way to him from her. Sorrow was the first and foremost thing to reach him followed by fear and anger. He assumed it was directed at whatever or whoever had put them into the tubes.   
"What is this Court? Heero's mentioned it before." Duo asked as he looked back towards the lab.   
"They were my guardians." She said softly. "They were killed a while ago."   
"There's no other way out of this room but through there." Heero said calmly and Li Mei nodded slightly and swallowed. He started walking again, keeping a firm and reassuring grip on her hand. Li Mei had moved closer to him, gluing herself to his side as they moved. The other pilots followed after them silently, each left to their own thoughts about the strange girl who Heero seemed awfully fond of. 

Heero only let go of Li Mei's hand when they reached the broken window. He casually hopped up and through it before turning and reaching out a hand towards Li Mei. She shook her head and leapt up beside him and stepping further into the room. She walked slowly and felt tears prick the corners of her eyes as she caught sight of the large tubes. She walked up to them slowly, her hands rising to rest against the tube holding a dark brown haired woman. She leant forward, pressing her face against it sadly.   
"I'm so sorry Ting Ting." She said softly, a tear tracing its way down her cheek. She turned to the next one and repeated the process, their names whispered softly as she sought their forgiveness.   
"What's she doing?" Heero turned to see the others watching her with a mixture of puzzlement and tension.   
"Paying her respects." He said coldly. He had an air of sadness as he watched her stop in front of each one and whisper words to them.   
"Li Mei. We have to go now." He said softly as she turned away from them. She rubbed her hand over her eyes and nodded.   
"I'm coming." She took a step forward when suddenly there was a burst of commotion down the hall. Heero growled and ran towards Li Mei, backing them both up against the side of the door. The other pilots quickly made their way to the opposite sides.   
"They're here! I saw a light!" The voices of soldiers carried down the passage way and Heero frowned. They'd have to fight their way out. It might be risky, Shirin might awaken and then all Hell would break loose. He glanced over to see the others were ready for the upcoming fight. The pounding of footsteps came nearer and he tensed. A group of guards flew through the door and the gundam pilots opened fire. The sounds of guns blasting away filled the room but it was over as quickly as it begun. A pile of bodies lay on the ground and Heero didn't waste any time waiting for more people to come. He threw himself around the corner, dragging Li Mei behind him. The others followed suit and they raced down the hall way. Another group of soldiers rounded the corner and Heero aimed and fired repeatedly. He ducked into a corner with everyone else as they returned fire, their panicked shouts making him smirk. He peeked around the corner and saw them regrouping. He poked his gun around and fired a few shots, the sound of bullets hitting flesh and then the cries and footsteps pounding up and down the hall way was his reward.   
"How are we going to get out of here?" Quatre asked.   
"I say we run around the corner, guns blazing." Duo said cheerfully, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.   
"Too risky." Wufei pointed out.   
"We could go through the air vents." Everyone turned to Li Mei as she looked and pointed above them.   
"The air vents?"   
"Yes. As far as I know, they don't have any defensive systems up there."   
"And how would you know?" Wufei asked sceptically. She tilted her head.   
"I may have been sitting in a rock for the past four hundred years but I'm not a fool. I know what they've been doing here since I first stepped onto this land." She pointed up again. "They didn't think you would find this place or attack it. They placed it specifically near that residential area for that purpose. Of course, they didn't count on the people leaving when they heard that they were OZ and they left. The town is now populated by the soldiers and other staff that work here. That's why they have reinforcements."   
"Right..." Everyone blinked. They didn't think she was the type of person to pick things up like that.   
"Wait... hold up, four hundred years?" Duo asked with a raised brow.   
"Ye-" Heero cut her off.   
"We need to get out of here now. Let's go." Heero gestured to Trowa and Wufei. They recognised what he was going to do and quickly put their hands together to form a stirrup of sorts. Heero put his hands on their shoulders and then pushed himself up. He pressed his hands against the grate and slowly pushed it up. It moved slightly and then he grunted and pushed it again, this time it did move and he pushed it to the side. He grabbed onto the edges of the grate and hauled himself up. Just then, a spray of bullets blasted away the wall and Li Mei ducked to the side but didn't scream. She frowned slightly and peered around the corner. Another blast of bullets made her lean back.   
"Li Mei! What are you doing?" Heero barked out as he stuck his head through the hole. She tilted her head at him.   
"Just hold up a sec." She crouched by the corner and they watched as an electric blue ball started to form above her palm. She waited until it was around the size of a baseball. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it flying around the corner and a loud explosion rocked the area. She stood up and dusted off her hands. She blinked. Quatre, Duo, Wufei and Trowa were staring dumbly at her.   
"What?"   
"You... what was that?!" Wufei asked as he continued to stare at her.   
"It was just a little energy ball. Besides, it'll give us enough to get out of here." She turned her head up and saw Heero was shaking his head at her. "What?"   
"Nothing. come on." He reached down and grabbed her upraised arms and hauled her up. She quickly disappeared into the hole but not fast enough and Wufei had to look away as he got a good look up her skirt. The others soon followed, Duo poking fun at Wufei and laughing at him. A muffled "Kisama!" was heard as they crawled through the small space in single file, Heero at the front followed by Li Mei, Quatre, Trowa, Duo and Wufei.   
"Which way do we go now?" Heero asked as they came to an intersection. Li Mei gently pushed her smaller frame past his and then looked down one side then the other side. She tilted her head and closed her eyes. After a long moment she opened them again. She started crawling to the left.   
"This way."   
"Are you sure?" Quatre questioned even as he followed after Heero.   
"Yup. Can't you smell the fresh air?" She replied in a cheery tone.   
"Huh? Fresh air?"   
"Yeah. All air vents lead to an opening to the outside."   
"Oh." Quatre blinked. That was logical. He shrugged mentally and concentrated on crawling.   
"I feel like a dope." Duo muttered as he crawled along.   
"You are a dope." Wufei muttered back good naturedly. Duo turned his head and stuck out his tongue.   
"Nyah!" Wufei smirked and continued crawling after his lover.   
"What do you mean she's gone?" A voice barked out below them. It was deep, commanding, powerful.   
"Sh. Quiet." Heero hissed as he stopped. Everyone followed his lead. There was the sound of feet shuffling underneath them and Heero peered down the grate that was close to him. All he could make out was a few soldiers lining up. Then he saw something he never wanted to see again in his life.   
"Shing." He hissed softly.   
Through the grate he could make out a tall man, probably in his mid twenties from the sound of his voice, with dark blond hair and a fairly powerful build. He was wearing a black suit and a white scarf around his neck. Heero could barely make out his face but he would know that voice anywhere.   
"She's... the crystal's gone. There's nothing left in the chamber, my lord." The commanding officer seemed to shrink before the him.   
"What do you mean it's gone? It cannot just vanish into thin air." Shing grated out in a hiss. The soldier seemed to shrink even more.   
"My-my Lord, we're searching the facility. She will be found."   
"She had better be. Or I will be coming for you next." Shing snarled as he viciously back handed the smaller man. He slammed up against the wall and crumpled down, groaning in pain. The other soldiers seemed too scared to move. Shing turned to the other men.   
"I want her found. Whoever helped her to escape is going to die. Slowly and painfully." Heero looked up when another head bumped into his. Li Mei was gripping the edge of the grate tightly, her knuckles white. She looked up at Heero with horror filled eyes.   
"Oh no. Shing." She whispered softly. Heero nodded in response.   
"If Shing's here, where's his Wu? Where's Ballard?" Li Mei's eyes widened and she looked down again.   
"He's not there?" She whispered.   
"No. I can't see him."   
"We've got to get out of here. Now. Ballard must be skulking around here somewhere and when he finds us..." She trailed off. "We have to move! Now!" She hissed out urgently, tugging at Heero's shirt and looking at the others. She quickly turned and started quickly but quietly making her way down the air vent. Heero hurried after her and so did the others, not knowing what the two had been whispering about but from the sound of their voices, it would be a good thing to get out of the facility as quickly as they could and hopefully without incident. They had made it a few hundred meters and they saw light filtering through a grate up against the wall. Heero pushed Li Mei out of the way and kicked against the grate. It went flying backwards and hit the ground with a dull thunk.   
"Let's go!" Heero pulled Li Mei out and they started running for the cover of the trees as everyone crawled out of the grate. They sprinted towards the line of trees that they had hidden their gundams in. They quickly broke through the bushes and made their way to their separate gundams, pulling off the camouflage netting they had covered them with. Heero grabbed Li Mei's hand and pulled her towards a large mound several meters away from the other gundams and began pulling off the camouflage netting. Li Mei stepped closer to him as her eyes searched the shadows, her newly awakened senses picking something up and causing her to shiver. She reached out and tugged on Heero's tank top as she looked around.   
"Heero? Heero, there's someone here." Heero turned, his own eyes scanning the area. Unfortunately, he didn't have quite the same sensory talents that Li Mei had and had to rely on his hearing and eye sight alone.   
"What? Where?" The mechanical whiring alerted him that the other gundams had already been started up.   
"Hurry up Yuy." Wufei said through the speakers of his gundam. Heero frowned at the added noise and peered through the shadowy trees.   
"Whatcha waiting for man? Come on!" Duo's impatient voice sounded over the speakers and Heero grunted and waved his hand towards them. He pulled the rest of the camouflage netting off his gundam and leapt onto the foot of Wing. He reached down to help Li Mei up, grabbing her around the forearms and pulling her up beside him. No sooner had he settled her down beside him and prepared to jump up when he heard something whistling through the air and barely managed to duck something metallic sliced through the air. He felt a slight breeze pass over his head and looked down with narrowed eyes as a few strands of hair drifted down to the metal foot of Wing. The gundams moved nearer to them, the huge metallic giants quickly training their weapons towards the threat to their team mate. Heero turned burning eyes towards the shadows where the attack had come from. He pushed Li Mei behind him and tensed in anticipation. He heard Li Mei suck in a breath as a tall man stepped out of the shadows.   
"Ballard." Li Mei whispered softly. He was tall, taller than Heero by at least a foot and had a powerful frame. Broad shoulders, powerful arms and legs. He was wearing a body hugging black t-shirt with no sleeves and a pair of black jeans that hugged his long legs like a second skin. He was tanned with dark blond hair that was cut short in jagged, uneven lengths and piercing grey eyes. He smirked at them condescendingly as he stepped further into the light. He tilted his head slightly to look up at them.   
"Get away from them." Wufei's voice said coldly. Ballard raised an eyebrow and held up a hand and clenched it. Suddenly, the gundam seemed to slump like a rag doll, falling to the ground on its knees.   
"Shit! Wufei!" Duo yelled. Another wave of his hand and Deathsythe crumpled to the ground like a broken doll.   
"Stop it!" Li Mei yelled as Ballard threw his hand out again and caused Heavyarms and Sandrock to crumple. She threw out a hand, a ball of energy flying from her hand. Ballard casually batted it away with a hand and looked at her.   
"Is that all you have Princess? You've gotten rusty." He sneered. Heero tensed and growled.   
"Ballard." He hissed warningly. The older man waved a hand.   
"Don't be so sensitive. Your Sanjiyan doesn't seem to care."   
'Sanjiyan?' The thought passed through the minds of the other pilots as they lay in their immobile gundams. They couldn't move their gundams, but they could move their cameras and trained them on the three.   
"Leave her alone." Heero's voice was cold enough to send shivers up their spine. Ballard didn't even flinch, in fact, his smirk grew wider and he started to slowly walk towards the gundam.   
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Always so quick to react." He stopped and looked up at them again. He stuck his hands into his pockets.   
"Better come back with me now, Princess. You too Heero. Shing isn't going to be too happy if you get away. He might be forced to kill a few people." He paused, then smirked. "Not that that isn't a good thing."   
"I wouldn't go with you. I know what Shing wants me for. I'm not going to let him turn this world into a Hell on earth." She said with conviction, her voice ringing out. "I know he killed the court, I know he killed my family and I know he killed almost every single Sanjiyan left!" Her voice had gone higher, her anger and sadness sweeping over everyone. In Sandrock, Quatre clutched at his chest and began to wince at the intensity of it.   
"True. But he did it in order to bring on a new age, a new era. The Elders were lazy, lax, stupid. The young had incredible split personalities and we were a dying race."   
"All Sanjiyan have split personalities!" She retorted.   
"Shing no longer has one. He merged with Valerious just before the... unfortunate mess occurred." Li Mei's hands tightened their grip on Heero's shirt and he heard the faint sound of her breathing quickening.   
"Heero..." She whispered softly. Heero reached back and squeezed her hand comfortingly. He would never let Shing/Valerious get her.   
"So, if you come with me now, I won't have to hurt your precious Heero or the others." He held out a hand. Heero growled and kept Li Mei behind him. Ballard shook his head and dropped his hand.   
"Well, this will just make it more difficult on you, my dear." He said. He looked at her for a moment. Then he moved. 

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**A.N** I just changed the ending of chap 4. Sorry! I just couldn't write with the ending of the previous version. It seemed so... lacking to me. Anyways, I'm halfway done with chapter 5 so it'll be out later today or tomorrow. I'm so sorry! I've just been so busy with school. I'll try, really try, to get it done! Thanks to everyone who's read it and commented. ^_^ 


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER   
I don't own any of the GW characters (such a shame too) and I don't own 3x3 Eyes and all that other stuff that goes into disclaimers.   
Yeah, um, This is a GW crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Um, sorry, there's prolly not going to be any Pai or Yakumo popping up anywhere (Sorry fans ^_^) but I am using   
their concepts and so on and so forth. There is YAOI in here so if you don't like it then don't read, ne? Um, pairing's are 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. It's KINDA an AU cuz there's   
magic and stuff but... not really.   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
**Chapter 5**   
Heero met Ballard's lunge as he leapt down as the larger man leapt up. Their bodies met with a dull thud and they both went flying to the ground.   
"Heero!" Li Mei cried as she jumped down off Wing after him. Heero and Ballard had already climbed to their feet and were staring at each other calculatingly, sizing the other up. She stopped when they started gathering power around them. Dark blue seeped from the air to slowly wave around Heero, his eyes flashing with a dark inner fire. Ballard stood calmly as deep orange gathered around him, giving him a ghostly glow. Li Mei stepped back slightly as the power rolled over her and she bit her lip. Despite knowing that whatever they did to each other would never leave anything permanent, she couldn't stop the urge to help Heero. She stepped back again and then turned around. She ran towards the gundams and leapt upwards and onto the leg of Heavyarms, the gundam closest to her. She moved quickly towards the cockpit, the place she had seen Trowa disappear into.   
"Are you all right?" She asked as she knelt by it, running her hands over the cold metal in order to determine exactly what it was Ballard had done to it. She probed deeply with her senses, quickly brushing against the small electricity spell Ballard had cast.   
'Interesting, these giant robots brought to their knees as a single wire is cut off from everything else.' She thought to herself.   
"Yes." Trowa replied.   
"What's going on?" Quatre said from Sandrock. Li Mei glanced back worriedly towards where Ballard and Heero still stood still. She turned backwards Sandrock.   
"Heero's decided to fight with Ballard." She said.   
"What? Why?" She shook her head.   
"Heero and Ballard have never gotten on very well. I guess his threat was more than Heero would take." She stood up again and looked down at Heavyarms. "Don't worry. I think I can get your big robots to work again. Just give me a moment." She closed her eyes and started to unravel the spell, Ballard's hold on it already gone as he started to devote all his power to his fight with Heero. A huge explosion marked the beginning of their fight and Li Mei turned to looked at them as she stumbled slightly. Heero and Ballard were throwing punches and kicks at each other, their movements blurred by the sparks and mini explosions as their auras met violently. Heero got a good shot in and Ballard slammed through a tree, breaking it in half. He wasted no time in following through with his advantage. Li Mei silently cheered him on as she concentrated on unravelling the spell around the gundams as well as making sure that there were no other spells hanging around. She slipped into a state of meditation, quickly and efficiently severing all the magical strings and holds. She didn't even see the blow coming. The others did.   
"Look out!" She turned her head just in time to see a huge ball of energy speeding towards her. She instantly broke off her magical connections to the spells and threw her arms up in front of her face. She was blasted off Heavyarms and was thrown several meters, landing on her back with a loud grunt as the air was forced from her lungs and then rolled to a stop. She coughed and got to her feet shakily.   
"Ugh..." She groaned as she looked dizzily in the direction the blast had come from. A tall, black clad man walked through the trees silently. She could barely see his face but his white scarf gave him away and watched as he strode into the light. She drew a breath in at the sight of his third eye, wide open and gleaming with anger. His dark blond hair was artfully combed away from his handsome face and he smiled, a cold and cruel twist of his lips. His dark gold eyes watching her intensely.   
"My dear, you look absolutely tired out. Come, why not let me take you back to my mansion and we can catch up on old times." She shivered at his voice. There was a time when it had been warm but... Now there was nothing left but a horrible monster.   
"No. I don't want to go with you," She knew she sounded like a child, but what else was she supposed to say?   
"Now now, my dear. There's no need to be childish. We can make a wonderful world together. It'll be perfect." A crazed gleam in all three of his eyes made her step back warily. Dark amusement crept into his eyes and he continued to walk forward.   
"Get away from her!" Quatre's voice sounded from his gundam. Shing tilted his head slightly towards the voice.   
"Are these the powerful gundams that have caused OZ such trouble. They don't look like much."   
"Stop it Shing. Leave them alone." Li Mei said as she took a few steps forward, her eyes flashing warningly.   
"Why should I? After all, you're just a little girl." Li Mei clenched her fists in anger but didn't say anything. It was true. She was young in terms of her race but it was so very insulting to be called a little girl.   
"I didn't spend four hundred years in that crystal doing nothing." She replied as she tilted up her chin defiantly.   
"You think you can beat me? You?" He laughed, a cold and piercing sound.   
"Yes me. I can't let you destroy this world."   
"Are you pretending to be a heroine?"   
"I'm not trying to be. I'm just doing what's right and what it takes to stop you from carrying out your crazy schemes."   
"Crazy?"   
"You killed almost every single Sanjiyan! And thousands of other humans!" She burst out accusingly.   
"I was merely ridding the world of useless souls. Our Elders were nothing but indolent fools. They would never have done anything to induce change within our people. And the younger ones! Their split personalities would have brought our race to their knees and then some."   
"We all have split personalities! It's the only way we can cope!"   
"I have coped very well. Valerious and I have become one. We are now just Shing."   
"I noticed." She said softly. She held her hand out in front of her, a small ball of electric blue energy forming. She clenched her hand as she brought it down to her side. A gold staff materialised and she tightened her grip on it.   
"I will not go willingly Shing. And I won't let you hurt anymore people." She held her staff in front of her and pointed the ring end towards him. He let out a low, cold, chuckle and pointed his own hand at her. A dark red ball of energy gathered in the palm of his hand and he quickly clenched it. A long glaive sliced through the air as he gave it a few practice swings. The metal glowed in the light that broke through the trees above and seemed to hum with anticipation. He slowed down the swings after a minute and held it up ready as he watched her carefully. She hadn't reacted to his showing off in the least. She stood tall, proud and determined and he felt something clench in his chest, a familiar feeling around her. He shook it off and smiled cruelly.   
"Are you still willing to fight with me? I could kill you so easily and you know what that means. Your precious little Wu will become mortal. not only that, there will be no one left to fight me and the world will be thrown into darkness, perfect darkness." He laughed out, throwing his head back and letting the cold sound bounce around the trees and back again. Li Mei winced inwardly, the sound grating against her sensitive ears. She readied herself as his laughter died down. She bent both knees tensed as she watched him carefully, prepared for any tiny hint of movement. He watched her too, his large frame tensing and, in mutual agreement, they started to circle each other. 

---------------- 

Heero growled and ducked a fist that would have caved his face in. He kicked out towards Ballard's knees and was satisfied to hear him grunt out in pain as he fell to one knee. Never one to miss an opportunity, Heero slammed a fist against his jaw that sent him reeling. His long legs kicked out and sent Ballard flying away. He slammed into a tree and through it. Ballard rolled to the side and fled behind some trees. Heero followed after him with a growl. He ducked behind the tree as it lazily fell to the side.   
"Ha!" He rolled to the side as a blast of dark orange exploded the ground that had been under his feet. He covered his head as dirt and clumps of grass and plants rained down. Before it stopped, however, he got to his feet and fired off one of his own, a dark blue ball shooting from his hand. He watched as a dark figure leapt from the shadows to avoid it. He threw himself at him as he landed. Ballard ducked under his punch and he grabbed his arm. Heero grunted as he was thrown but managed to twist his body around so that he could land on his hands and feet, quite like a cat. He glared, his eyes spitting fire.   
"Still sharp." Ballard said as he lazily brushed some hair back from his eyes.   
"Hn." Heero grunted as he stood back up. Ballard wasted no time, this time, and raced across the distance separating them. Heero put up his arms to block an elbow but didn't see the punch coming and grunted in pain as his head snapped to the side. He used the momentum to throw himself into a reverse kick, catching Ballard across the face with his foot. The sound of snapping bone made him smile despite his pain and he followed through with another kick to his ribs. Ballard had fallen back already and Heero's foot went through air but Ballard stumbled back some more as he rubbed his rapidly healing jaw. The soft cracking sound indicated he had already snapped his broken jaw back into place. His eyes lit up with respect as he nodded at Heero.   
"You're stronger than when we last fought." Heero just grunted in response as he straightened, the ringing already gone from his head. He narrowed his eyes as Ballard took up a stance, his legs bent and a smirk on his face. "Now, let's start fighting. for real."   
"Ninmu ryokai." Heero took up the challenge. With an unspoken command, they threw themselves at each other again, the sound of fists and feet hitting flesh, the sound of bones cracking filled the small clearing. 

------------------------------------ 

"Yah!" Ducking under a sideways slash, Li Mei swept out with her staff but couldn't manage to hit Shing as he twisted away. She knew she wasn't nearly as physically strong as he was and it didn't help that he had longer range in body as well as weaponry. Her staff couldn't compete to the five feet of Shing's glaive. But she was faster. A lot faster than he was. She rolled away as he slashed downwards and she kicked out, her long legs sweeping across his ankles forcing him to the ground. She quickly pressed her advantage and slammed her staff down across his chest, using all of her body weight behind the blow. He roared in pain and she barely managed to leap over his glaive as he swept it around her legs. She floated to the ground several feet away, eyeing him warily as he pulled himself to his feet. She tightened her grip around her staff as she noticed the flaming anger in his eyes, his third eye the most. He let out an inarticulate snarl and threw himself at her. She moved to the side, quickly bringing her staff up to ward off the following blow and stumbled back against the force. She quickly ducked underneath another wide slash and rolled backwards to avoid a downward stab. Rolling to her feet, she swept her staff out towards his stomach and was rewarded with a grunt as he stepped back from his lunge, The tip of his glaive falling slightly. Using the ring of her staff, she caught the end of it and twisted it. She didn't account for his stronger grip and she was jerked forward as he pulled his glaive towards himself. She stumbled forward, barely keeping her footing as she seemed to fly two feet forward. She reeled backwards in pain, blinking away the instinctive tears as he backhanded her across the face. She twisted around, freeing her staff from his glaive and jumped backwards. He decided not to waste any time and slashed towards her again. The cold metal sliced through the thin material of her shirt as she moved backwards. She quickly moved around the glaive and brought herself close to him. She struck out in a backhanded motion, catching him cross the face. His head jerked around and she moved forward, closer still, and punched him in the gut, forcing the breath out of him and he gasped. She brought her hand back and punched him in the face. His head whipped backwards, blood flying from his nose as he fell. She set her jaw and pressed her advantage further still, kicking her leg out and slamming it against his head. He spun off to the side and fell with a dull thud, his glaive falling by his side. She took a deep breath, silently apologising to Shing, and waited for him to show any sign that he would be getting up. For a long moment she waited, tense and holding her breath. She waited, her heart beat echoing in her ears as she watched his still form. Slowly, as the adrenaline seeped out of her system, she relaxed her muscles and slowly lowered her staff. She took a few careful steps backwards but he still hadn't stirred. She quickly turned and then ran back towards the gundams.   
"Are you all right?" Quatre's voice sounded and she nodded slightly.   
"I'm fine."   
"You're bleeding." Trowa said calmly. Li Mei blinked and brought a hand up to her mouth. She drew her hand away at the stickiness and looked at the dark red that stained the her finger tips.   
"Oh. It's nothing." She glanced over her should towards Shing and was relieved to note he was still unconscious. "I'll get these spells off you first. Then we can go get Heero."   
"Right. Hurry up, I don't want any more surprises." Duo muttered. Li Mei nodded and quickly started unravelling the spell again. Her eyes closed and her brow furrowed as she worked as fast as she could. It wouldn't have taken so long is she didn't have to keep checking is Ballard hadn't set any more spells on each set of wires. She was almost done when a feeling of dread came over her. She snapped around, her eyes widening when she couldn't find Shing.   
"Shing! Where is he? Did any of you see him?"   
"What? He's still there, onna." Wufei replied angrily. Li Mei hissed under her breath as she turned back but saw only empty space.   
"Yeah, he's still there." Duo piped up.   
"No, he's not there anymore... that's just an illusion." She quickly probed outwards with her senses, searching for him. She didn't have far to look.   
"Ah!" She cried out as a magical ward zipped through the air and slapped onto her forehead. She fell, crying out in pain as it ripped at her psyche. She fell, twitching in pain as the burning sensation danced across her entire body. 

-------------------------- 

'Hurts..." Heero barely managed to duck under Ballard's kick as Li Mei's mind brushed against his. He was worried. She couldn't use it unless she was on the brink of conciousness or if she was in extreme pain and couldn't talk. He grunted as he blocked a blow with his arms and then ducked under the following kick. He growled and powered up a energy blast, brutally slamming his palm against Ballard's chest as he fired it off. Ballard let out a cry of pain as he went sailing backwards, his already battered body crashing to the ground. He quickly turned and ran back towards the place the gundams were. He ignored the stinging sensations as branches and bushes scratched his exposed skin.   
'Heero...?' He heard her again, pain evident in her 'voice'. He pushed himself faster, ignoring his wounds and his barely healed bones. He burst into the glade and saw Shing bending over her fallen body. Rage and fear rushed through his veins and he let out a roar. Shing barely had enough time to turn around before Heero slammed into him and threw him away from Li Mei.   
"Stay away from her!" He snarled as he stood protectively in front of her.   
"You're an annoying little brat." Shing sneered as he dusted himself off, his black suit splattered with blood. Heero snarled as he stepped closer.   
"Get. Away. From. Her. Or. Die." Heero bit out. He couldn't turn his back on Shing to stop whatever was causing Li Mei pain and it was eating away at him.   
"Die? I don't think so." Heero had had enough. He slapped his hand down onto the ground and stared directly into Shing's eyes.   
"In the name of Heero Yuy, I summon you. Come forth! Tou Chou!" He let out a grunt as he felt the presence of the beast spirit. Immediately in front of him, three small explosions ripped up the ground and screamed towards Shing. Shing quickly summoned his glaive and stabbed it into the ground in front of him. A small, barely visible dome appeared, surrounding him. A largish insect looking creature with three spike like appendages, appeared as soon as it hit the barrier. Heero turned towards Li Mei and grabbed the ward, gritting his teeth as the ward started to tear at his own psyche. He refused to give up and ripped it away, throwing it as far as he could. He let out a breath as Li Mei's eyes snapped open. All three of them. With a cold, annoyed look on her face, Shirin stood up and dusted off her clothing. She turned her head to look at the gundams and smirked.   
"So these are the toys that you play with now." She said with a small laugh.   
"What the fuck?!" Duo yelled through the speakers.   
"She's-she's got th-three eyes!" Quatre stuttered out.   
"Amazing, you can count." Shirin said sarcastically. Heero threw her a glare and she shrugged. "What?"   
"Hn." Heero snorted as Shirin rolled her eyes. She looked back towards Shing at a wet squelching sound to see him stabbing the poor beast spirit right through with his glaive. Tou Chou immediately disappeared and she strode forward so that she was in front of Heero. She put her hands on her hips, her cold, arrogant expression looking at him with an almost bored look.   
"You've fallen so very far Valerious."   
"It's just Shing now." Shing said as he stood up, carefully picking gore off his suit.   
"I see." Shirin summoned her staff from where it had fallen at her feet. She gripped it tightly and spun it around in her hand. She watched Shing with a cold expression before she broke out into a feral smile, her eyes lighting up with blood lust.   
"Let's play." She hissed just before she threw herself at him, her staff extended. The sound of metal against metal rang out as Shing blocked her vicious strike. He grunted, quite surprised at her enhanced speed and strength in this form. He hadn't expected Shirin to have gotten better.   
"You're rusty Shing. Should have kept up the practice!" She sang out as she spun around, a backhanded strike from her staff barely missing his head as he dodged out of the way. He realised that he needed space. Shirin would never hesitate to kill him, not like Li Mei would have, and he knew that Shirin wanted blood. Namely, his. He was not quite prepared to let her get any of his. He bit back a curse as she got in a blow across his stomach. She let out a laugh, a chilling sound as she punched him across the face. As he reeled backwards, she smacked her staff against his hands forcing him to drop his glaive. She kicked it away and advanced towards him with a smirk.   
"I'm going to enjoy killing you for Li Mei."   
"Not if I can help it." Shirin leapt backwards as Ballard came crashing down from above, his fist extended. She hissed and threw a hand out, a ball of energy catching him as he straightened. He flew backwards but managed to catch himself. Heero stepped forward as Shirin touched down on the ground gently. The four stared at each other for several tense moment. Shirin smiled slowly, something that sent a chill down Heero's spine and let out a loud whistle. The piercing sound made the gundam pilots clutch at their ears. The high-pitched note cut through the air as she cut through the remains of the spell holding the gundams down. Shirin smiled as Ballard and Shing winced at the sound. Heero just shot her a small glare that she ignored.   
'Heero, go to your gundam when I tell you too. Oh, and tell your little friends that they can move now.' He mentally nodded to Shirin's message and tensed to run.   
"It's been fun Shing but..." She trailed off with a wave of her hand. She stared at them for a moment then threw her hands towards them. "Kuan-Yaa!" She cried as a lightning like energy blast ripped through the air from her fingertips. The dragon like head of the blast opened its gaping mouth and roared. Ballard and Shing threw up their defences, the light explosion was blinding as the attack met their barriers.   
'Go Heero!' Heero sprinted off towards Wing and yelled.   
"Move! Get out of here! The spell's are gone!" No sooner had the words left his mouth when the familiar whirring sound of machinery started up.   
"All right! Let's get out of here!" Duo yelled as he leapt into the sky. The others followed. Heero leapt nimbly into the cockpit of Wing and started her up.   
'Come on Shirin!" He yelled mentally.   
'All right, wait a moment.' He looked out and saw Shirin launch another attack.   
"Ha!" She let out a gleeful cry as she let loose a large beam of energy. It ripped through the air with an audible explosion. She laughed as it smacked into Shing and Ballard's already weakened defences and caused a massive explosion. She wasted no more time and ran towards Wing. She leapt up Wing's body quickly and into Heero's cockpit. She gave him a look as she noted how little room there actually was in the cockpit. Heero glared at her and pulled her in.   
"Why are you wasting time?" He asked as she sat stiffly on his lap as he closed the cockpit. She snorted.   
"Because unlike Li Mei, I don't like sitting this close to you." Her eyes flashed and then her third eye drifted closed. Li Mei blinked as Shirin gave control over to her and then she smiled. She snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his chest.   
"Hi Heero."   
"Hi." Heero said as he gunned the engines to Wing's engines and they shot up into the sky. 

-------------------- 

"She's got a few new tricks up her sleeve." Shing said as he brushed dirt off his suit. Ballard nodded.   
"Yuy has as well. Do you want me to take one of those... mobile suits," He seemed to sneer the words, "and follow them?" Shing shook his head.   
"No. We'll get them later. Right now, I think I had better go and find some more spells. She won't be as easy to take down as she would have been four hundred years ago." A maniacal gleam came into his eyes as his third eye slid shut. "Besides, the chase is almost as fun as the catch." 

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[1]Tou-Chao (Earth/Ground Claw) - A large, fast three-clawed monster which slices its opponents. One of the most common beast magics.   
[2] Kuan-Yaa (Shining Fang) - A beam of light with a dragon's head. Used by Benares to attack Yakumo, and later learned by Yakumo (who captured it in a vacuum flask!).   
BTW, these are all from 3x3 Eyes. 


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER   
I don't own any of the GW characters (such a shame too) and I don't own 3x3 Eyes and all that other stuff that goes into disclaimers.   
Yeah, um, This is a GW crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Um, sorry, there's prolly not going to be any Pai or Yakumo popping up anywhere (Sorry fans ^_^) but I am using their concepts and so on and so forth. There is YAOI in here so if you don't like it then don't read, ne? Um, pairing's are 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. It's KINDA an AU cuz there's magic and stuff but... not really.   
** A very special thanks to all the people who have read this story and a VERY special thanks to all those who have reviewed! Thanks a lot for your support. Special thanks goes to Killy and Katie. You two have reviewed the most ^_^**   
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**Chapter 6**   
Heero and Li Mei were the last to arrive at the hangar of the safe house, Wing slowly walking into the large metal shed and backing into its corner. Heero waited for a few moments before he shut off the engine, turning his camera around to view the other four gundams. They were already powered down, their pilots waiting by the feet of their gundams watching Wing as it settled down. A low whirring sound marked its powering down and they watched warily as the cockpit door opened with a burst of steam, the soft hiss the only sound. A long, pale leg came out first, followed by a skirt and then the rest of Li Mei, she looked towards them, a look of uncertainty on her face as she clasped her hands in front of her, her long slim fingers clenching and unclenching around each other. Heero quickly appeared next to her and gave them all measuring looks. They stood like that, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa and Duo by the feet of their gundams staring upwards at Li Mei and Heero, their eyes filled with mixed emotions.   
"I guess you'd all like an explanation." Li Mei said softly, her eyes moving downwards as she squeezed her hands together.   
"Damn right!" Duo replied. Li Mei seemed to wince slightly but she tilted her chin up and nodded.   
"Hn. Let's go inside." They watched as Heero picked Li Mei up, bridal style, and jumped off his gundam. He landed lightly, his knees bending to take the brunt of the fall. Without a backwards glance, he continued out of the hangar, Li Mei still held tightly in his arms. They got a brief look of her eyes as she glanced over Heero's shoulder. There was a look of regret on her face before Heero turned to walk towards the house.   
"I think we should follow them." Quatre had already started to follow Heero and Li Mei out of the hangar as he spoke. Trowa followed behind him silently. Duo started to follow too, but when Wufei hesitated, he turned back.   
"What's up Fei-chan?"   
"There's something wrong here." Wufei said, annoyance lacing his voice as he stared at the hangar doors.   
"What?"   
"I don't know. There's just something very strange..." Duo rolled his eyes and grabbed Wufei's arm.   
"Of course there's something strange going on. Heero's girl friend has three eyes." He dragged a reluctant Wufei back to the safe house. 

"Where do you want me to start?" She asked. She sat on the end of the couch, her hands folded neatly in her lap, her right leg crossed over her right. Heero sat right next to her, practically glued to her side. His arm was draped over the back of the couch and around her. The other pilots were sitting opposite them. Wufei was sitting on a single chair while Trowa, Quatre and Duo sat on the other couch.   
"What's going on? Who's Shing? And why does he want you?" Wufei asked tightly, his eyes watching her with mistrust.   
"Ah. I'll have to start of by telling you about my... my people. Or what's left of them." She said. It was only then, did they realise how soft her voice actually was. It had dropped down a little at the mention of 'her people' and they had to strain to hear it. She visibly took a deep breath.   
"I am one of the last of a dying race. We are known as the Sanjiyan Unkara, or the Triclops." She paused. Duo, ever curious, opened his mouth to ask a question but she put up a hand and gently shook her head. "Please Duo, Mr. Maxwell, let me finish. If you have any questions after that, you may ask them."   
"All right." Duo replied a little reluctantly. Li Mei gave him an apologetic smile.   
"I'm sorry, I just have to finish telling you about my race before I lose my nerve. We are not meant to reveal ourselves to humans."   
"I can imagine." Wufei said dryly. Heero frowned as Li Mei sighed and continued.   
"We are a race of beautiful and long living creatures. We are very closely related to the spirits of your world in the way we can move between planes of existence and wield magic in our own rights. We are quite capable of communicating with spirits." She looked up, her face calm, neutral, and looked at them. There were varying degrees of disbelief and scepticism, but they didn't interrupt her.   
"Despite our powers, we have slowly become a degenerate race. Most our Elders have become decadent, callous and lazy while the young have become extremely emotional and will often develop split personalities. What I mean by split personalities is that we have dual natures. Some may be extremely kind but once their Sanjiyan awakens, they become blood thirsty monsters. Or it may be vice versa. Some of my people believed that this mental death would bring about the death of our race, the ultimate end of our people." She looked down at her hands again, her face filled with different emotions.   
"We are ruled by a monarchy, a male or female, it doesn't matter. A single line has ruled the Sanjiyan for over three thousand years. The last Kaiyanwang, the title we give to our rulers, was a female Sanjiyan by the name of Yin Feng. She and her consort, Zhijian, were great leaders who saw how our race was dying." She paused and looked up with sad eyes.   
"You must understand, our race, small as it was to begin with, only a thousand or so four hundred years ago, and Kaiyanwang would do anything to save our people. In a final bid, she suggested that we interbreed with humans, therefore shortening our life spans but also continuing our race. It was not taken well by many Sanjiyans." She sighed deeply and spread her hands.   
"There was a great revolt among the Nobles who were disgusted at the thought of actually condescending to consort, let alone breed, with humans. It split our race in half. Many of the young ones and a few older and more experienced ones followed Kaiyanwang while almost the entire Noble class defied Kaiyanwang and decided to establish their own kingdom of sorts. They moved to Europe. We, the ones in Tibet, never heard of them again. Until the massacre. Because we had begun to interbreed, our powers and our attributes that made us different from other races, began to weaken, as our bloodlines mixed with yours." She took a deep steadying breath.   
"We lived for hundreds of years without hearing from our brethren in Europe and we began to spread out across the Asian region, many of us moving around China and Japan. For years we lived among humans, learning about your culture, about your tendencies and beliefs. It may have taken us a few years, but we quickly adopted your ways and began our lives as 'humans'." She smiled slightly.   
"We had no problems in finding mates and quickly began to interbreed. Don't get me wrong, those who did find mates loved and cherished them, protected them and kept them happy. We did not use them as objects necessary for life. Sanjiyan have a very low birth rate to compensate for our incredibly long life spans so there were no children born from those unions for many, many years."   
"Because we do not age at the rate humans do, our continued youthful looks confused many people. We grow very slowly. We will take many years to even grow from infants into toddlers, a great disadvantage. Despite the love and caring between the Sanjiyan and human couples, there were serious questions to be asked. Not only because of our ageing, but also because of little things. Our ability to communicate with spirits gave us insight into many things that lead to our slight ability to predict the future and our intense dislike for places of worship also gave much to question. With no other choice, we told the humans that had become part of our families about who and what we really are. Surprisingly, they were very understanding and quite supportive. Many of them insisted that we write down our history in order to help the, if any, children that were born from the unions. And so we did. We wrote a book about ourselves and the many things we can do and have done. That book has been lost in the past century though." She sighed. "A great loss."   
"But soon after we told our humans about our people, the first children were born and there was great rejoicing within our families. When the children rapidly grew like normal human babies, we were very happy, convinced that they would age at normal rates and live as long as humans." She smiled in remembrance but then her smile slipped and she shook her head. "But it wasn't to be. When they reached puberty, around twelve to fourteen, they stopped growing, slowing down until they didn't seem to age at all. Because we had told them from birth what we were and had told them about our history, it didn't seem to matter to them but it did cause severe problems. Adults can lie about their age, they can say that they just age well. Children and preteens however, cannot. There would be serious questions raised about their health and that would cause unwanted attention that would most likely be very bad for our people. We were forced to become a nomadic race, moving from place to place when it became apparent that people were noticing how we never changed."   
"But the greatest sorrow that we met was when the human mates began to grow old and die. We do not care about physical beauty as we are a race that are surrounded by beauty, but when the spouses began to die, we began to despair. The younger Sanjiyan didn't know what to do and so Kaiyanwang and the Elders told them of a spell. This spell made the human, or whoever it was cast on, immortal as long as the Sanjiyan who cast it lived. But immortality comes at a great price. In exchange for this immortality, the spell demands the soul of the person the spell is being cast on."   
"The soul?!" Duo burst out.   
"You eat people's souls?" Wufei grated out. She shook her head vehemently.   
"No! We do it with the permission of those we cast the spell on. We would never do it without the permission..." She paused and then looked at Heero. Her face fell and she bit her lip. "I, that is, we do not do the spell unless both parties care for one another and are willing to give up their lives to save the other. It doesn't work without consent. They are then marked with the Sign of Wu." Heero squeezed her shoulder and she gave him a small smile.   
"Many were wary and reluctant to use the spell on their mates and some never did. The humans were quite prepared to become immortal if it allowed them to stay with their families but some were not and the Sanjiyans and their children sadly watched them die."   
"Despite this, we lived in peace for several centuries. But peace, as you all well know, does not come without a price. The new generation of Sanjiyan became less powerful and therefore less inclined to use the power that was their heritage. As a result, they were not strong enough for the battle that was to come." She looked up, her large eyes filled with sorrow and anger. "We originally come from another dimension that runs parallel to yours, a land that we all called home. In this land, a great war was fought. Thousands died, both Sanjiyan and humans alike. The Nobles and their followers, both Sanjiyan and human, got it into their minds that with their superior powers, they could take over the world and rule it, changing it as they saw fit." She shook her head.   
"This lead to a new discovery about Wus to happen. As well as becoming immortal age wise, we found that a Wu can also survive death through injury. Their bodies would not die and they took upon themselves a completely new role. They became protectors of their Sanjiyans." She shook her head. "But it didn't stop the deaths. The Sanjiyan knew what was the source of their invincibility and took full advantage of that, many young Sanjiyans far too weak to put up a decent fight. They were slaughtered like pigs." Her hands clenched into fists and she bared her teeth in anger, her dark eyes flashing with fire. "Shing and Ballard lead the attacks and killed many with their own hands, my parents included. And enjoyed it. He tried to marry me in an attempt to become my consort and take over the title of Kaiyanwang."   
"Your mother was Kaiyanwang?" Quatre asked in surprise.   
"Yes. I was the next in line to the throne of the Sanjiyan. He tried to convince me that he was not insane, he was merely looking for a way to turn this world in a place that would show the Sanjiyan the respect and fear they deserve."   
"Why would he think that you would marry him?" Duo asked. She looked away and sighed deeply.   
"There was a time, long ago, when we were expected to marry."   
"You were engaged to him?!" She winced from Quatre's outburst.   
"Yes, my parents decided it would be a good match. He wasn't... always a blood thirsty murderer. He was an Elder, one of the few that joined Kaiyanwang. He's several centuries older than me. But a century or so before the great war, he went insane. Because many Sanjiyan's desired to become human, he started to experiment with spells and certain artefacts that could possibly grant their wishes. He soon found one that had the capabilities to do so. It was an artefact called the Ningen no Zou, or the Statue of Humanity. It had been used before by demons and other supernatural beings to become humans. Shing thought that it might help us. He did a lot of research, travelling all over the world for many years. When he returned, he brought with him the statue and the instructions on how to perform the ceremony. It required three Sanjiyan. Two would have their powers stripped from them and then it would be passed onto the third. Shing volunteered to be the third as he was the only one who knew the spell. Two other elders decided to try to become humans as they felt that they had lived and done all they could and they had nothing to lose." She looked away.   
"The process did work and the Elders became humans, but the overload of power to Shing caused an accident and he... he went insane. He murdered the two Elders and fled with Ballard to Europe to join the other Sanjiyan's as he said that he had seen how weak humans were and how they were meant for nothing other than slavery. That was the last we had seen of him until the war began." She paused.   
"The rest is history. Neither side had enough leverage as though they had power, we had sheer numbers. The war ended with no winner as there were too many casualties." She spread her hands and looked up, her eyes telling them she was done. There was complete silence. They stared at her, not quite sure what to make of what she had said. Quatre coughed into the awkward silence and Li Mei sighed, her eyes falling to her lap.   
"Let me get this straight." Duo looked at her as he scratched his head with a small frown. "You're a Sanjiyan Un..., uh, Triclops. You're the heir to the throne of the Sanjiyan, you're really old," Li Mei cringed, "and this psychopath called Shing is trying to get you to marry him."   
"Is a round about way, yes."   
"So how old are you, really? You don't look older than fourteen."   
"I'm two hundred and fifty-seven years old." Duo whistled.   
"Man... you're old." Quatre choked and looked at Duo.   
"Duo!"   
"It's okay." Li Mei replied with a small smile.   
"Just before we left that base, you had three eyes. How come you only have two now?"   
"Ah. A Sanjiyan can choose to open or close their third eye. I am a younger Sanjiyan," She laughed a little at Duo's sceptical look at the word young, "Yes, I am young. My mother was... was over one thousand years old before she was killed, my father older still by two hundred or so years."   
"You acted different when you had three eyes. Do you have a split personality?" Quatre asked.   
"Ah. As I said before, the younger Sanjiyan's did have split personalities. In my case, and the case of many others, we share our bodies with another being. I don't know why, but many Sanjiyan's are born with two... what's the word, minds I guess. No, souls. My other personality's name is Shirin. She's very... um, interesting."   
"Why would you have two souls?" She shrugged.   
"I guess, from what Shirin's told me, that my ancestors believed in reincarnation and that meant being reborn in the body of another Sanjiyan. Shirin's very old, far older than my mother. Or so she says."   
"So what's her personality like."   
"Ah. She's a very, um, forceful," Heero snorted and Li Mei rolled her eyes slightly, "and stubborn. She's... interesting." She finished off.   
"Can we talk to, uh, her?" Li Mei shook her head.   
"Trust me, I don't think you want to. She doesn't like humans."   
"Oh."   
"Hey... you said that Sanjiyans made their mates their Wu's... Does that mean that Shing and Ballard were... you know..." Duo paused and raised his eyebrows. Li Mei looked at him blankly. Duo coughed.   
"You know..." Duo tapped his index fingers together.   
"Ah..." Li Mei tilted her head. Heero smirked slightly. He leant over to whisper in her ear.   
"He wants to know if they were in an intimate relationship." Li Mei blushed bright red.   
"Ah! Oh no! You have it all wrong!" Li Mei composed herself and smiled. "Shing and Ballard weren't in a relationship. Shing had made Ballard his Wu long before I was born. Ballard had saved his life and in return, he offered Ballard immortality. Obviously, Ballard accepted."   
"Oh."   
"What's this Court and who were those people in those tubes?" Quatre asked, his face paling at the thought.   
"The Court was a group of people that protected the Royal Family. They're sort of like the Praetorian Guard of the Roman Emperors. I-most of them were killed just before my Mother and Father died and the remaining seven took me before Shing could and they hid me and locked me in the crystal until Heero found me.   
"Found you?"   
"We were separated. He forced the Court to take me away while he played decoy."   
"Wait, wait. Hold up. You said before you were locked in that crystal thing for four hundred years. That means..." Duo turned to Heero, his eyes wide. "That means he's over four hundred years old!"   
"Are you a Sanjiyan, Heero?" Quatre asked carefully. Heero shook his head.   
"No."   
"So how could he be alive..." Quatre trailed off, his eyes wide.   
"You're a Wu." Trowa said. Heero nodded.   
"Where's your mark of... uh, Wu? We've never seen it." Heero brushed the hair away from his forehead and there, against the pale skin was a dark red symbol. The Sign of Wu.   
"What did you do to Heero?" Wufei asked in the lull of the conversation, a frown on his face. Li Mei looked away.   
"I didn't mean to. It was an accident." She said softly. Heero shook his head and gently squeezed her shoulder.   
"I've heard of the Sign of Wu and it doesn't seem like you described it. I quote, 'Wu, or the sign of nothingness. When a Sanjiyan consumes a soul, the "Wu" mark appears on the victim's forehead. The "Wu" is a near-indestructible, soulless being who will only die when the Sanjiyan does. The status of "Wu" can be revoked or changed via extremely powerful magics, like the humanification process...'" Wufei said bluntly. "I have heard of your kind before."   
"I..." Li Mei bit her lip. "I-He would have died!" She said, her eyes filling with tears of guilt. Quatre put a hand on his chest and looked at her sympathetically. Her guilt was eating away at her.   
"Wufei." Heero said coldly, his eyes glaring at him. "I said she could."   
"Right. Keep telling yourself that. Anything that steals souls is a demon." Wufei suddenly found himself hauled out of his chair and dragged to his feet. He looked into the icy prussian blue of Heero's eyes and felt a tinge of fear at the protective anger he saw.   
"She. Is. Not. A. Demon." Heero bit out. Li Mei grabbed his arm.   
"Hey! Cool it Heero!" Duo said as he stood up.   
"Heero!" He could hear his friends calling his name, asking him to calm down but he wouldn't, not until he made Wufei see that he was wrong.   
"Heero! Stop it!" Heero continued to glare at Wufei.   
"Do you know how hard and how long she fought to save her people? To save the humans who got caught in the crossfire?" He tightened his hold on Wufei's shirt. "She almost died, she almost married Shing", Heero spat out the name, "just to stop the blood shed."   
"Heero, please, that's enough." Heero let go of Wufei, shoving him so that he fell back into his chair.   
"I understand where you're coming from Wufei, but we aren't demons. Making a Wu is not a thing we take lightly. You can ever only have one Wu. That's why we do not take it lightly. We only ever take the soul of someone who is willing. I took Heero's soul in an effort to keep him from dying when he tried to save me from dying."   
"How did you two meet?" Quatre asked. Li Mei looked at him for a long moment.   
"That's a very long story."   
"We have a lot of time." Wufei said as he straightened his shirt and glared at Heero."   
"I see. Very well. I will start at the beginning." Li Mei took a deep breath another deep breath and told their story. 

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**A.N** Mm kay, most of my info comes from the 3x3 Eyes Digest (http://www.sazan.net/digest/). If you want to know more about the actual series of 3x3 Eyes, got there. Its a VERY helpful site if you wanna know anything 'bout 3x3 Eyes. ^_^   
Yes, the next few parts will be about Li Mei and Heero. The other pilots won't appear. I'm really sorry if you don't like that, but I have to tell Li Mei and Heero's past. It'll prolly be split up into three or four parts, mm kay? Just be patient and before you know it, there will be moer action and stuff. I'm really sorry if you don't like that. 


	7. Heero and Li Mei's Past Part 1

**DISCLAIMER**   
I don't own any of the GW characters (such a shame too) and I don't own 3x3 Eyes and all that other stuff that goes into disclaimers.   
Yeah, um, This is a GW crossover with 3x3 Eyes. Um, sorry, there's prolly not going to be any Pai or Yakumo popping up anywhere (Sorry fans ^_^) but I am using their concepts and so on and so forth. There is **YAOI** in here so if you don't like it then don't read, ne? Um, pairing's are 1xOC, 2x5, 3x4. It's KINDA an AU cuz there's magic and stuff but... not really.   
All righty...   
"Blah." is talking.   
'Blah.' is thoughts.   
-Blah.>- denotes Li Mei and Shirin's 'psychic' conversations. They're not really psychic, I mean, they share the same body!   
.oO(You're babbling...)   
Ah! I'll stop now! ^_^ Hope you like it!   
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**Until Forever - Li Mei and Heero's Past Part 1**   
  
Tanako Murashima, Principal of Mirakomi High School, was not having a good morning. Having your car break down in the middle of a busy road is not fun. Then she got coffee spilled on her while she was on the bus and then there was a big traffic jam a little less than a block from the school. She was REALLY not having a good day. She sighed and pressed her face into her hands as she sat at her desk. The bell to indicate the first period of the day had started had rung a little over ten minutes ago. She was glad for the moment of silence. There was a knock on the door to her office and she sighed. She knew it had been too good to be true. She ran her hands through her short chin length blond hair and sat up straighter.   
"Come in." The door opened slightly and her secretary, a Mrs. Furiko Kino, popped her cheerful, smiling face in to the room, her dark red hair tied back in a neat bun.   
"Excuse me, Miss Murashima?"   
"What is it Mrs. Kino?"   
"The new student, Li Mei Zhang, the exchange student from China, she's just arrived. Do you want me to send her in?" Tanako blinked.   
"Oh, right. I forgot all about her! Yes, send her in right away."   
"Sure." Furiko disappeared but Tanako could hear her voice.   
"Li Mei?" There was a muffled response. "Miss Murashima can see you now." There was a pause and the door opened wider as Furiko walked in with a folder in her hands. A short, teenage girl followed quietly behind her. She sat down in a chair and set her bag down beside her as Furiko handed Tanako the folder.   
"This is her information folder that was sent from her previous school." As soon as Furiko left, Tanako put down the folder and looked at the teenager that sat across from her.   
She was very pretty, many could even say she was beautiful. Large crimson eyes watched from behind long bangs. Her long dark purple hair was tied back in a ponytail that hung down to her waist and tied off with a white ribbon. Her bangs were parted in the middle but curled slightly in front of her ears, framing her pale heart shaped face. Long, thick black lashes framed the deep crimson of her eyes, the slight tilt at the corners adding to her exotic appearance, dark slim brows arching gracefully above them. She was wearing the Mirakomi girl's winter uniform. The top had a black and white sailor collar and a black long sleeved top with white trimmings at the end of the sleeves. Her skirt was black and emphasised her long legs. She wore the white folded ankle length socks and black silver buckle shoes. She was sitting demurely and upright. Tanako was tempted to ask just how old she was. The girl didn't look old enough to be in high school, she only looked like she was fourteen at the most.   
"Li Mei Zhang?"   
"Yes, that's my name Ma'am." The girl had a pleasant voice, if a bit quiet. It was smooth, easy to listen to.   
"I'd like to welcome you to Mirakomi High. I'm Miss Murashima, the principal. Mrs. Kino was the woman who showed you in. She's the school secretary." She reached out with her hand. Li Mei took it and shook it with a firm grip.   
"Thank you."   
"So, let's get down to business, shall we." Li Mei nodded with a small smile. Tanako smiled at her and opened the folder. It had the normal stuff, an identification photo in the front. Li Mei was smiling a little shyly but in a friendly manner. Tanako looked up and noted that it was the same expression she had just now. The other information was rather vague, just listing off various other general information. She flipped over the page and raised an eyebrow. The school had decided to send over her reports from previous years. It was a little unusual but having a student move around, it was necessary for them to give the new school a bit of an idea in what the student could do. And boy, this girl could do a lot. She had come first in her grade in maths, biology, Software Design and Development, Information Processes and Technology and English. She topped all the subjects that she did. In fact, all her marks ranged from only 95% to perfect. It was pretty amazing. She flicked her gaze back up to Li Mei, her dark blue eyes filled with respect and was a little surprised at what she saw. Li Mei was sitting quietly, she hadn't seemed to have moved from when she had last looked at her. She was quite surprised at how composed she seemed, she didn't fidget, she didn't keep glancing around nervously, in fact, she just sat there quietly and patiently, up right and perfectly at ease. She sat with her legs crossed at the knees, her right leg over her left and her hands folded in her lap.   
"You've gotten very good grades Miss Zhang. They're quite impressive." Li Mei blushed and ducked her head modestly.   
"I had the best of teachers. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without them." Tanako smiled and stood up and made her way to the door.   
"So modest. Fortunately, we have all the same electives that you took at Everglade so there won't be any need for you to catch up on any other subjects. Let's see about slotting you into the right classes and then get you to class, shall we?" Li Mei smiled in appreciation as she got up and followed her to the door. "By the way Li Mei, do you have a laptop?" Li Mei blinked.   
"Yes... why?"   
"Good. Everything we do is done on laptops. It's easier for students and makes note taking a lot easier. Do you have it here?"   
"Um, no." Li Mei shook her head. Miss Murashima pat her on the shoulder lightly.   
"Don't worry. We'll lend you one and give you a disk so you can save on it and then take it home. Don't forget to bring your laptop tomorrow."   
"I won't, thank you Miss Murashima." They stepped into the foyer and Li Mei stepped around and into the main area. Tanako handed the folder back to Furiko.   
"Mrs. Kino, do you think you can put Li Mei into these classes? I thought that since we have them all, there might be a possibility that we can fit her into them." Furiko nodded and started to type away at her computer. She paused and nodded her head.   
"Yes, I can just fit her into all of her classes."   
"Good. Can you print out a schedule for her?"   
"Yes, I can do that." A moment later, Li Mei was handed a piece of paper with all her classes and a school diary. 

Li Mei was happy to note that her first class was English. She'd always enjoyed it and it helped her to relax to fall into the familiar patterns again. She hadn't attended school for a while now due to her moving and getting everything in order and she was feeling a little bit bored. She was rather thankful that they had managed to accept her so quickly.   
"Li Mei?" She turned her head to see Miss Murashima looking at her.   
"Yes Miss Murashima?"   
"I think I'll show you around a bit before you start your first class. Or would you prefer to go to class first?" Li Mei thought that she might as well get the grand tour of the school before class started but before she could say anything, the phone in her office rang.   
"Could you excuse me Li Mei? I've just got to go and see to the phone. I'll be right back." Li Mei nodded. As Miss Murashima closed the door to her office, the doors to the office swung open widely and a teenage boy strode in through the doors with a dark expression on his face. He stepped up the desk impatiently, his eyes narrowed slightly.   
Li Mei felt a light flush travel up to her cheeks as she looked up at his face from her place next to the desk.   
He was very attractive, in a rugged, untamed sort of way. Messy dark brown hair that fell into his eyes in jagged and spiky bangs that cut across his lightly tanned skin and partially hid his eyes. Those eyes were the kind that anyone would lose themselves in. Dark, intense and enigmatic, the prussian blue pools reminded her of the ocean. The way they looked just before a storm. He was taller than her by at least a head and had a slim, almost skinny frame, but there was a rippling of muscle underneath his shirt that told you not to underestimate him. He wore the the black jacket with a high collar and black pants that were part of the uniform. The jacket was open, his white shirt was untucked and the top two buttons undone. His pants clung to his hips and thighs but were loose enough for free movement. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder, about the size of a laptop.   
Her supernatural senses picked something up from him, an aura of power and something else... something she couldn't quite put a finger on, waving around him. The feeling of his aura was intoxicating and she barely stopped herself from running over to him and attaching herself to his side.   
-Quit drooling, girl!>- Li Mei started at Shirin's comment, her eyes widening slightly before she could control her reaction.   
-Shirin!>-   
-Calm down, I was just teasing. Though, I must admit, for a human, he's awfully... tasty.>- THAT got Li Mei blushing but she forced it down before anyone else could notice it.   
-Please don't say things like that Shirin.>-   
-Fine, fine. You're such a prude.>-   
-Shirin...>-   
-All right, fine. I'll just stay quiet.>- There was an offended note in her voice and Li Mei felt a twinge of guilt.   
-You know I didn't mean it like that Shirin.>- She was met by silence. -Come on, please don't be like that.>- More silence. She sighed.   
-I'm sorry Shirin, come on. I have school and I don't need to keep turning red from your comments.>-   
-All right. I'll refrain from making any snide comments. There? Happy?>- Li Mei sighed inwardly and sent Shirin a burst of mixed emotions; amusement, exasperation and tolerance.   
-Thank you Shirin.>-   
-Hmph.>- She felt Shirin break off and focused her attention back on where she was.   
"Heero, you're late again." Mrs. Kino said as she shook her head. Heero shrugged.   
"Hn." He didn't say anything else. Mrs. Kino just clucked her tongue at his lack of reply and took out a piece of yellow paper while she typed something into the computer.   
"You should wake up earlier Heero. This is the third time this month you've been late."   
"Hn." Again, Heero didn't reply in any other way than a grunt. He turned slightly and he seemed to see Li Mei. Curiosity flashed in his eyes but Li Mei couldn't be quite sure as he seemed to smooth his features into a neutral and emotionless expression.   
"Oh, Heero. This is Li Mei. She's a new student who transferred here from China. Li Mei, this is Heero." Mrs. Kino smiled encouragingly at the pair. Li Mei bowed deeply and smiled, her head tilted slightly to the side.   
"It's very nice to meet you Heero." Heero just stared at her for a long moment and Li Mei had to force her smile from faltering.   
"Heero." Mrs. Kino prompted.   
"Nice to meet you." Heero finally replied with a slight tilting of his head before he looked away. A silence fell between them, the only sound was the soft clicking of the keyboard. Li Mei sighed deeply and Heero's eyes turned back to her. The door to Mis Murashima's office opened and she walked back out, an apologetic smile on her face.   
"Li Mei, I'm so sorry to keep you waiting." Her eyes flickered to the tall boy standing close to her. "Heero, you're late."   
"Hn."   
"Usual problems?"   
"Hn." Li Mei forced her smile down as she glanced at Heero. Obviously he only communicated in monosyllabic grunts which everyone seemed to understand.   
"I see." She sighed and turned apologetic eyes to Li Mei. "Li Mei, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to show you around the school. I've just got a phone call from a parent and I have to be here when they arrive." She handed Li Mei a slender black laptop and a disk. Li Mei took it carefully and tucked it under her arm.   
"It's all right. I can look around later." She took out her timetable and started to look at it. Heero reached over the desk to take the late slip that Mrs. Kino handed him.   
"Heero, while you're here, why don't you show her around?" Li Mei looked up and blinked at Miss Murashima. She turned her head slightly to meet Heero's surprised gaze. When he realised she was looking at him, he quickly smoothed his features back down to the unemotional mask he had been wearing before. He turned cold eyes towards the principal.   
"Hn." He looked back at Li Mei and jerked his head towards the door as he turned on his heel and left the lobby. Li Mei blinked and then followed after him after a hurried good bye to the two older women. 

Heero didn't know what to think. He'd arrived late, again, and was rather surprised to find a new girl in the office. It wasn't that they never took in new students, it was just that he found her quite... well, appealing. Exotic to be sure, and very different. She had an air of power, confidence and femininity. She didn't seem like the other girls in the school. She seemed innocent, not jaded like the other girls he knew, and quite nice. Genuinely. Her eyes were a dead give away. They were warm, soft-hearted looking with a certain sweetness. He'd seen new kids, boys and girls alike, get chewed up and spat back out by the cold and cruel students at the school. Mirakomi High was notorious for its rich students, his own father an extremely wealthy and successful businessman. His mother was an accomplished designer who often did business with the VERY rich. Needless to say, both parents barely had any time for Heero at all... But back to his previous line of thought, Heero couldn't help but feel as though Li Mei was walking into a lion's den, her sweet face and gentle eyes enough to draw the sharks in like the scent of fresh blood. The only reason he hadn't been bothered was because he'd beaten the living day lights out of the first person who tried it and the few after that had been dumb enough to try after that. He felt sorry for her but he didn't want to get involved. He didn't want any attention. But still...   
"Heero! Heero, wait up! Please!" Li Mei's steps weren't quite as long as his and she had to walk rather hurriedly in order to keep up.   
"Hn." He replied but slowed down his pace anyway. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and watched her walk along side him. She had a slight smile on her face and she looked straight ahead.   
"Um, so Heero, what's it like at school here?" He realised that he quite liked the sound of her voice. It was soft and had a nice soothing lilt to it. He looked straight ahead and didn't reply to her question. It was probably better not to talk to her or he might start to actually tolerate her. That would be bad. That would mean he'd care what happened to her. Best not to talk to her. He stayed silent and he heard her sigh softly, sadly maybe. He clenched a fist to stop himself from turning his head and replying.   
"Sorry to bother you Heero." She said softly. She sounded so sincere and so sad that he sighed deeply and stopped walking. Li Mei took a few steps forward before she noticed that Heero had stopped walking. She turned to face him, a tiny frown on her face.   
"Heero?" He didn't answer her but just stood still and watched her intensely. She lowered her eyes and bowed her head under his gaze.   
"I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry." She sighed again.   
"It's not that." She looked up, surprise on her face.   
"Pardon?" She asked.   
"You're not the problem." Heero replied.   
"Oh?"   
"This school isn't friendly."   
"Why's that?" She frowned again, a slight creasing between her eyebrows.   
"The people here, they aren't nice."   
"Why not?" The frown had melted away into a puzzled look. She had tilted her head to the side thoughtfully as she looked up at him.   
"They just aren't."   
"Oh."   
"Stay away from them."   
"But... how can I? I can't stay away from people I go to the same school as."   
"Just go to the library when it's recess or lunch. Don't make friends with any of the students here."   
"Even you?" Heero blinked at the unexpected question and stared down at her. Her large eyes were completely honest and seemed to look into his very soul. He couldn't look away, his eyes locked on hers. The crimson depths reminding him of... of something overwhelming, something powerful. He looked away and then stared above her head.   
"Even me."   
"Oh." She sounded thoughtful and she looked down at her feet for a moment before looking back up, a small smile on her face. She turned back around and started walking. She looked over her shoulder at him.   
"So are you going to give me a tour or what?" Her voice had a sort of amused lilt to it and Heero shook his head, not quite sure what to think about the shorter girl. He didn't have anything else to do but follow after her and complete the tour. 

When they finally arrived to class, the period well under way. Heero knocked on the door and then stepped through, Li Mei following closely behind. True to what Miss Murashima said, all the students had laptops. Black, dark blue, red, there were lots of colours, each telling of the owner's personal style. Heero nodded at the teacher as he put the late slip on her desk and walked to his seat, not looking at anyone. He quickly sat down and took out his laptop, starting it up and then looking to the front to see Li Mei introduced. It was just his luck that he would be in the same english class as her.   
"Well class, it seems as though we have a new student." The teacher had ushered Li Mei in front of the black board and was introducing her. Li Mei was smiling, her expression sweet and oblivious.   
"I'd like you all to welcome her. She's an exchange student from China and I hope you all treat her very well. Her name is Li Mei Zhang." The sound of gritting teeth was almost audible from the other students. A new arrival was always greeted with a mix of reactions. A new play thing or a new rival, she was not going to have an easy time with these people. Heero glared around the room, his eyes darkening into a stormy blue.   
"Hi! I'm very pleased to meet you." She bowed deeply, her long hair falling over her shoulder in a rich, silken wave. Her white ribbon contrasted starkly with her dark hair and uniform. When she straightened, she smiled warmly. There was a general chorus of greeting and several of them sounded far more interested than they should be. Several of the students staring at the short girl intensely, their eyes raking her from head to toe. She seemed oblivious to their gazes and continued to smile.   
"I hope you're all nice to her." The teacher said. The affirmative reply made the teacher smile. "All right Li Mei, there's a seat near the window behind Juni, Juni put up your hand." A tall girl with black hair and dark green eyes smiled, her teeth showing in an almost predatory way, put up her hand. "Or there's a seat next to Heero at the back. You know who Heero is. Choose a seat and that will be your seat for the rest of the year. Okay?"   
"Yes Miss. Thank you." Li Mei smiled and made her way down the isle. Juni smiled up at Li Mei as she came near and Li Mei smiled back but kept on walking, much to Juni's, and the rest of the class', surprise. She blinked and stared dumbly as she watched Li Mei settle down in the seat on Heero's left. The stoic boy's eyes flashed with surprise before quickly settling into an expressionless mask.   
"All right, now that you've settled down, let's get this class back on track, shall we?" 

Li Mei ignored the looks she was getting as she stood at the front of the class, her expression of unawareness forced. Her eyes roved over the class, her senses screaming danger at her. There were only two things that kept her from bolting: Shirin's strength in the back of her mind and the faint brushes of Heero's comforting aura.   
-My, aren't you the popular one.>-   
-Shirin, I don't like the way they're looking at me... they're radiating very strong emotions. And they're looking at me funny.>-   
-Just ignore them, I won't let anyone hurt you. Besides, it seems like that Heero boy is ready to leap to your defence. Like a knight in shining armour!>-   
-He's probably just annoyed he had to show me around.>-   
-Sure...>-   
-Shirin...>-   
"Everyone, we have a new student in the class and I'd like you all to welcome her. She's an exchange student from China and I hope you all treat her very well. Her name is Li Mei Zhang." Li Mei gave them a smile. There was an immediate leap in the intensity of the emotions radiating from the student.   
-Wow! Did you feel that?!>- Shirin's presence let out a low whistle.   
-Unfortunately, yes.>- Li Mei forced the smile to stay in place.   
"Hi! I'm very pleased to meet you." She bowed deeply, relieved at the opportunity to avoid their gazes. Her eyes fell on Heero when she straightened up and noticed the glares he was sending around. She felt a light flush rising at the feel of his protectiveness he was emanating.   
"I hope you're all nice to her." The teacher said. The affirmative reply made the teacher smile. "All right Li Mei, there's a seat near the window behind Juni. Juni put up your hand." Li Mei glanced towards the girl the teacher had gestured at. She was pretty, tilted dark green eyes and short, shoulder length black hair. She was smiling in a rather predatory way, her eyes glinting with a dark light. Li Mei pushed down the urge to run. "Or there's a seat next to Heero at the back. You know who Heero is. Choose a seat and that will be your seat for the rest of the year. Okay?"   
"Yes Miss. Thank you."   
'Definitely next to Heero.' Li Mei thought as she walked down the isle. She smiled briefly as she passed by Juni so as not to offend her and sat down quickly at the seat to Heero's left. She completely missed the strange looks she received from everyone else.   
-These kids are all really weird.>-   
-No kidding Shirin. They're kinda creepy.>-   
-Watch you back. You don't want to get into any trouble when you defend yourself.>-   
-I can look after myself well enough without hurting anyone, Shirin.>- Li Mei turned to face the teacher as she moved to stand in front of the class.   
"All right, now that you've settled down, let's get this class back on track, shall we?" Li Mei quickly opened the laptop as she set it down on her desk and then started it up. She basked in the warm waves of Heero's aura and started to relax. But one glance around the room showed that the other students were still looking at her told her that this would be a long class... 

There was a collective sigh of relief when the bell finally went. Li Mei quickly packed up the laptop and stood up. She felt a presence approaching her and looked up. Juni stood near her, her taller frame standing a little too close for Li Mei's comfort and she edged backwards slightly. She was glad she had decided to sit close to Heero, his presence made her feel protected. Juni's aura made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.   
"What do you have for your next class Li Mei?" Her voice was husky and commanding. Li Mei tilted her head back to look up into her eyes. She didn't realise what a tempting figure she made, vulnerable and innocent looking. Juni licked her lips.   
"Oh, hi Juni. Um... let me see." Li Mei took out her school diary and looked at her schedule. She traced a slender finger down the paper until she found her class. "It says here that I've got... Software Design and Development."   
"Really? I'm going that way-"   
"I've got that class next. I'll take her." Heero stated coldly as he stepped up by Li Mei's side. Li Mei blinked and looked up at him. Juni frowned, her eyes flashing at the boy who dared to interrupt her. Heero just glared back, blue clashing with green.   
"But I'm sure she'll prefer another girl to a boy." She said, a falsely sweet tone in her voice, one that usually set off alarm bells screaming in people's heads.   
"She's coming with me." So saying, Heero took hold of Li Mei's upper arm and gently, but quickly, steered her away from Juni and out the room. Juni frowned at his back and before smiling widely, her green eyes lighting up with amusement and mischievousness. She let out a small laugh as she turned on her heel and left the room.   
  
"I thought I told you not to make any friends."   
"I'm not. I was just talking to her."   
"That's all the encouragement she needs."   
"What encouragement?"   
"Just talking to her will make you think you're fair game."   
"Fair game? For what?"   
"Their games." He turned around a corner, still holding her. Li Mei noticed the strange looks they were getting from the students they passed and blinked. She turned her head to see several of them gather together and point and twitter about them before she was forced to look ahead again. She looked down at Heero's hand that was wrapped around her upper arm, the long slender fingers wrapping completely around it. She could feel the calloused pads of his fingers and almost blushed at the protective vibes her was radiating. She leant against him unconsciously. She didn't feel Heero stiffen in surprise.   
"Oh. What games?" Heero almost groaned. Either this girl had lived in a box all her life or she was stupid. She didn't SEEM stupid so he assumed she must have lead a sheltered life.   
"Games. You don't want to know. Just stay away from her."   
"Um... okay. I think." Heero nodded and continued walking. He ignored the stares he was getting from his fellow students as he practically dragged the small girl behind him, his quick pace forcing her to practically run after him. He walked into a large building on the other side of the school grounds. He pushed open the door and didn't stop until they entered a room down the hall to their left. When Heero opened the door, There were four long rows of desks running across the room with large cushioned swivel chairs. There were large holes at regular intervals along the tables that had small plugs sticking out of them. Part of a network or something, Li Mei assumed.   
"Heero? Where are you going to sit?" He didn't answer, just led her down the rows of computers until they got to the back of the room in a corner. He stopped in front of a seat that was in the back up against the wall. He looked at the seat and then he looked at her, a small frown on his face. Li Mei blinked up at him and then looked at the seat and then back at him.   
"What's wrong with the seat?" He frowned at the seat before pushing her towards it.   
"Hn." She looked at the seat and then sighed. She sat down on it and then watched as Heero settled down on the seat next to her and put his laptop down onto the table. He reached out and plugged his laptop into the network and started it up silently.   
"Heero, do you normally sit here?" Heero stared straight ahead at his computer.   
"Hn." When she got no further reply, she sat turned her swivel chair around and faced her computer, crossing her right leg over her left. Heero's eyes flickered towards her as she opened up her laptop and then started it up. He was surprised to note she hadn't tried to plug her laptop into the network but then shrugged. It looked like she knew what she was doing.   
His thoughts wandered back to what her upper arm had felt like in his hand. She was smaller than he thought, his hand wrapping completely around the slender limb. His calloused fingers had brushed against her soft skin and it reminded him of satin.   
The sound of people coming into the room caused Li Mei to turn. She presented him with a pretty three-quarter view of her face and he couldn't help but admire the soft curve of her cheek. The sudden urge to reach out and trace the curve with his own finger surprised him and he turned away from her hastily.   
"What do we have here?" Heero almost groaned. He should have known that hiding her in a corner wouldn't make people miss her. No, she was far too attractive and drawing to be able to ignore. He turned around and saw a Li Mei blinking at the tall teenage boy that was raising her hand to his lips. Heero growled and before he knew what he was doing, he reached out and snatched Li Mei's hand away from him.   
"Hands off Kudou." He snapped. The taller teen straightened, a slender dark brow raised as he looked between a confused Li Mei and an angry Heero. He had slightly curly black hair, the dark strands curling around his neck and his bangs falling into his deep emerald eyes. Like most of the other boys at the school, he was taller than Heero but Heero was never one to be easily intimidated. Daisuke's lips quirked up slightly at the corners at the blatant challenge Heero was issuing.   
"I was merely introducing myself Yuy." He nodded towards Li Mei, a slow and lazy smile set to stun forming on his lips. "I'm Daisuke Kudou. I'm very pleased to meet you."   
But it seemed Li Mei didn't know she was supposed to fall for it. She just merely smiled back, no sign whatsoever that she was stunned and about to fall into his arms like a love sick school girl.   
"Hello." She nodded back and turned back to her computer. Heero nodded slightly, approval in his gaze as he looked at her when she didn't say anything else before turning his eyes back to Daisuke.   
"You've introduced yourself. Now go away."   
"But I think that it is my duty, as a very prominent social figure in this school, to welcome this lovely young lady." Li Mei tilted her head slightly, looking at him from the corner of her eye as he spoke. She didn't blush like most other girls would, in fact, she didn't seem to be reacting at all. Truth be told, she'd heard too many people say she was pretty or lovely or beautiful to be affected anymore. Daisuke leaned closer, much to Heero's displeasure and reached out to touch her face. She moved back slightly, as though she was turning her head to look back at the screen, but was really trying to put a little more space between them. She didn't like people touching her face. Especially people that made her feel uncomfortable like Daisuke and Juni did. Heck, like most of the people she'd seen in the school did.   
"What's your name?" She sighed inwardly, years of having proper manners ground into her head not letting her ignore his request.   
"Li Mei." She said softly. Heero almost groaned and Li Mei shot him and apologetic look.   
"What a lovely name, for a very lovely girl. Beautiful Plum Blossom, am I correct?"   
"Thank you and yes it is." She replied politely.   
"Everyone, get into your seats please. That means you Daisuke." The teacher had entered the room before Daisuke could have done anything else and he walked back to his seat, not too far from where Li Mei and Heero were sitting. He looked back over his shoulder and winked at her. She pretended not to see it as she looked towards the teacher.   
"All right, let's check the roll... And who do we have here?" Li Mei smiled when the teacher raised his eyebrow at her.   
"Hello."   
"Hello there. You must be the new student... Li Mei Zhang, am I correct?" He looked at a slip of paper that was in the roll. Li Mei nodded.   
"Yes, that's me sir."   
"And what a polite girl you are." He quickly wrote something down in the roll. "All right, I see you've found a seat... Heero, isn't that your usual seat?"   
"Hn." There was a brief pause.   
"Is it okay if she sits there?" The teacher asked carefully. Li Mei was looking at Heero as he stared straight ahead at the computer he was sitting in front of.   
"Hn." Heero grunted again. The teacher sighed and shrugged.   
"All right. Let's just start the class then." He paused and turned back to Li Mei. "Sorry Li Mei. I'm Mr. Komatsu. I see you didn't plug your laptop into the network. Very smart of you. Since you don't have a student number yet, you would have been rejected. Would it be all right if you look on with another student?"   
"Oh, that'll be fine Mr. Komatsu. Thank you."   
"So, who'll let her-"   
"I will." Heero broke out before he could finish his sentence and anyone else could accept the offer. Mr. Komatsu blinked at Heero, the boy who almost never talked, and nodded slowly.   
"All right. Heero, look after her will you?"   
"Hn." Heero went back to his monosyllabic grunts again. Li Mei moved her seat closer to Heero and tilted her head slightly to look at the screen.   
"Well, let's get started. You all know what you're supposed to be doing, so get to it! And Heero, you explain to Li Mei what we need to do." Mr. Komatsu strode out of the classroom at the end of his little speech.   
"So what are we doing?"   
"Making a program."   
"Oh." She paused, watching Heero open up different programming applications and then starting up his already half finished one. She watched as he typed, his long fingers moving over the keys at an incredible speed. Her eyes darted across the screen as he typed in several lines of code.   
"Um, what are the program requirements?"   
"We're to design a program that works like an automatic teller machine."   
"Oh. I see." She looked at his screen again. He went back to typing, practically ignoring her, but she didn't mind. She knew he was concentrating on what he was doing and she understood that. After all, programming wasn't something that was easy. She settled back quietly in her chair and watched what he was typing. She studied the lines of code for a moment and realised she'd done it before. She tilted her head and leant a little closer and read each little group of codes. Her eyes were so intent on the screen as he typed that she didn't even notice it when someone walked up behind them.   
"Li Mei, I'm so sorry our earlier conversation was interrupted. Please, will you allow me to continue it?" Heero turned to glare coldly at Daisuke as Li Mei sat up straight and turned the chair slightly, her legs brushing against Heero's. Heero jumped slightly at the contact but didn't remove his glare from Daisuke.   
"I'm sorry Daisuke, but I think Heero and I should be working now. Maybe some other time an opportunity will present itself and we can talk then." She gave Daisuke an apologetic smile before turning back to Heero's laptop and lightly touching the glaring boy's shoulder.   
"Shall we Heero?" Heero blinked at her in surprise before settling his usual mask of neutrality on his face and started typing again. Daisuke just stared down at her in shock, his dark green eyes wide. Then he smiled, a slow predatory smile. If Li Mei could see it, she would have run. As far and as long as she could. It bore a disturbing resemblance to Juni's smile...   
The hair on the back of Li Mei's neck stood on end and she shivered slightly, unconsciously leaning closer towards Heero. Daisuke turned on his heel and went back to his seat, the smile still on his face as he worked lazily on his program.   
The class went quietly from then on. Li Mei and Heero only received curious glances and people whispered behind their hands but aside from that, they were left alone. But as always, things are not as they seem. 

"Heero, where are we going?" Yet again, Li Mei found herself being pulled quickly along by Heero. They had just finished third period and it was lunch time. It was strange, she was in almost every one of his classes. The only differences in their timetables were that he had chemistry when she had IPT and when she had biology he had chemistry.   
As soon as the bell had rung, he had practically dragged her out of the room and towards another large building. She sighed when he didn't answer and decided to let him take her wherever he was going. It seemed to her that he was acting a little too protective. After all, how bad can these students be?   
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Yuy?" Heero stopped so suddenly, Li Mei bumped into his back and stumbled backwards. A hand snaked out to grasp her elbow and tug her away from Heero and she yelped in surprise. Heero hadn't let go of her hand so she was tugged back up against his side as he turned. Icy eyes glared at the two people standing close. Juni was smirking off to the right, her dark green eyes focused on Li Mei's adorably confused face. Daisuke was smiling at him, his own eyes just as cold.   
"Go away." He snapped. Li Mei looked between them. The anger and tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. She pressed closer to Heero.   
"But I'm afraid we can't do that Yuy. We just want to talk to Li Mei, get to know her a little better." Juni replied. Daisuke nodded, his hands in his pockets.   
"After all, we are the most popular people in the school, it's our duty to introduce her into the lime light."   
"She's not for you." He growled.   
"Then who's she for? You?" Daisuke snorted in scorn as he glared at Heero. Juni had stepped closer, her tall, willowy form moving across the space between her and Heero like water. She smiled, not a very pleasant one. She reached out to touch Heero's face but his hand snapped out to slap it away. She pouted.   
"Such a shame Heero. You would have made a wonderful playmate." She turned to look at Li Mei who was looking up at Heero's angry face in concern. "But this girl, she's just perfect. Don't you think so brother?" She turned to face Daisuke.   
"Yes, quite, dear sister." Li Mei really didn't like that look on their faces. Heero moved in front of her, his fists clenched at his sides. He didn't know why this little girl had him so protective, had him ready to fight the Kudou twins for her sake, but whatever it was, it was coming on strong. Maybe it was because he'd seen far too many people be destroyed by them, innocent people. Or maybe it was because he was attracted to Li Mei. He didn't want to dwell too long on that thought.   
"So, why don't you just make it easy on yourself and let her come with us? We'll take care of her. She's far too pretty for us to let anything happen to her."   
"She's not a toy." Heero growled.   
"Are you challenging us, Yuy?" Daisuke raised a brow. His eyes flickered to Li Mei as she stood uncertainly against Heero's side before meeting Heero's gaze. "Then again, I can understand why you would fight for her. She is very tempting." He paused a moment, looking at Li Mei thoughtfully. "Very well. I accept your challenge."   
"Hn." Li Mei blinked and stepped back away from them as they moved closer. She looked around. Quite a large crowd had gathered around them and she didn't really know what was happening. From what she could gather, Heero and Daisuke were about to fight.   
"Come on sweet, let's let the boys play." Li Mei blinked up at Juni as the larger girl took her elbow and led her away.   
"What do you mean? Why are they fighting?" Juni's fingers were rubbing against her elbow and she tried to move away but Juni kept a firm grip on her and she grimaced slightly. She didn't like this, not one bit.   
"They're fighting for you." Juni said as she smiled down at her, that predatory look back on her face.   
-That girl's going to die.>- Li Mei paled at Shirin's mental voice.   
-No! You can't kill her Shirin!>-   
-How DARE she touch you.>- Li Mei winced at the volume of Shirin's anger and tried to pull her arm from Juni's grip again but it only served to make her tighten it. She winced. It was probably going to bruise.   
-Shirin, please. We can't cause any trouble. I'm sure killing her will make trouble.>-   
-Gr... Fine, fine. I won't kill her.>- Li Mei sighed as Shirin went into a tirade about how terrible everything was. Li Mei tuned her out as she turned to look up at Juni again.   
"Please, Juni, can you let go of me? You're hurting me." Juni looked down at her for a long moment before letting go, slowly, her fingers brushing against her arm as they fell away.   
"Thank you." Li Mei said as she raised a hand to rub against her arm.   
"The fight's about to start." Juni said as she nodded towards the two boys. Daisuke had taken off his jacket and handed it to some boy near him. No one dared to approach Heero in fear of Daisuke's wrath. Li Mei frowned and stepped into the circle and walked up to Heero.   
"Heero, give me your jacket. It might get ruined." Heero turned to her in surprise but shrugged off his jacket anyway and handed it to her. She carefully folded it over her arm.   
"Good luck Heero. Be careful." She murmured so that only he could hear. Heero nodded at her and jerked his head back towards the circle of student. She nodded in understanding and stepped back into the ring of onlookers. Juni was frowning down at her. She looked back, a neutral look on her face.   
"Is something that matter, Juni?" Juni grinned at the display, delight obvious in her gaze. She licked her lips. Defiance. Strong and true.   
"You're not as soft as you look. We're going to have fun with you."   
"Daisuke hasn't won yet." Li Mei said softly as she turned back to face the fight. Juni smirked and turned to observe the fight. This fight promised to be very good. She hoped that her brother wouldn't beat Heero too badly. Heero would be a very nice spice to go with their sugary Li Mei. 

Heero glared at Daisuke as he tensed his muscles. The smirking arrogant fool was looking at him as though he was lower than pond scum.   
"How do you want to do this, Yuy? After all, you're the one who issued the challenge." Heero shrugged. He really didn't care as long as he got to wipe that smirk off Daisuke's face.   
"Hn."   
"All right. First knocked out or whoever gives up. How's that?" Heero shrugged.   
"Hn."   
"Good. It's settled then." Heero nodded. Daisuke stood still for a moment as he regarded the stubborn teen. Heero stared back defiantly at him, his prussian blue eyes colder than ice. 

Ever since Daisuke had met him, he had hated Heero. The silent, cold and brooding teenager made him seethe inside, made him hate him. He didn't know what it was. It could have been his quiet strength, the steel behind those cold eyes. He hated the way he defied him, the way he refused to play the game. But most of all, he hated the way that Heero ignored him. NO ONE ignored him. He was Daisuke Kudou, the most popular guy in the school, the most charming, the most handsome, the most respected. The most feared. But this... this little... boy just appeared out of nowhere and captured the attention of everyone. He didn't even want the attention! But he got it. And now, he had the attention of the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. Li Mei, with her wide innocent eyes, deep as the ocean, and warm soul, was Heero's. He could already see it in her eyes. Those deep crimson pools spoke of passion and devotion, something that Daisuke wanted. Something that he couldn't have. Because Heero had it. And for that, Daisuke wanted to kill him. 

Heero knew he couldn't underestimate Daisuke. There was a reason that the boy was feared. His physical prowess was incredible. His size belied his speed and those large hands were very strong. Heero remembered one boy, someone who had dared to call Daisuke Kudou a coward and a bastard, had been unfortunate enough to meet his fist full on. The boy never did get to walk again. He was now in a mental ward. The trauma to his head had given him brain damage. It had all been swept under the carpet of course. After all, how could the son of a successful and powerful business man do such a thing? The family had been threatened and bought off, the entire incident soon forgotten. It also helped that no one was willing to act as a witness. But Heero wasn't a twenty pound weakling. He had proven that on his first day of school there. A boy, Kentaro Yamaguchi, had tried to bully him. Heero hadn't really cared until Kentaro tried to take his laptop and beat him up. Heero had broken his nose and bruised several ribs. Most people had left him alone after that. After all, Kentaro had been one of the toughest in the school. If that scrawny kid could beat him easily, what could he do to them? Of course, there had been some dumber people who had tried to rough him up and ended up in the hospital with Kentaro. Heero clenched and unclenched his fists. He knew he wasn't as big as Daisuke, but he knew he was faster and just as strong, if not stronger. But Daisuke didn't play by any rules and he was vicious. Behind all that glamour and charm, Daisuke was dark, vicious and cruel. 

With an unspoken agreement, the pair rushed at each other.   
"Yah!" Ducking under Daisuke's opening right hook, Heero got close enough to jab him right under his rib cage. Daisuke let out a gasp of pain as he stumbled. He quickly followed through with a backhand as he spun around that Heero barely ducked under. He moved away wearily, smug in the knowledge that he had gotten the first hit in. Daisuke glared at him as he straightened, but the stiffness of his body told him that he had felt that hit. Heero let a small smirk drift across his face before forcing it down.   
"That was a free shot. You're not going to get another one."   
"Hn." Daisuke snarled, angered by his lack of response. He quickly composed himself and fell into a ready stance. Heero did likewise and they began to wearily circle each other. Heero watched Daisuke with narrowed eyes while Daisuke did the same to him.   
"Hyah!" Heero stepped to the side of a right jab and then ducked under a left hook. He leaned backwards from another hook but wasn't fast enough to dodge to following jab. He reeled back and grunted as he was hit with a glancing blow against his cheek. He didn't let Daisuke take advantage and forced himself to move again. He blocked a jab from Daisuke with his arm and twisted into his defences. Back to chest against him, Heero slammed an elbow into Daisuke's stomach making the larger boy gasp and retch in pain and then elbowed him in the face. The sound of bone against bone was satisfying as Daisuke's head snapped back under the force of the blow. Daisuke lashed out with a badly aimed punch and Heero grabbed his arm and threw him over his hip.   
"Oof!" Daisuke landed against the ground hard, the wind forced from his lungs. He snarled angrily and swept his legs out in a wild manner, catching Heero above his ankle. Heero pushed his arms out in front of him to cushion his fall and mentally berated himself for not moving out of Daisuke's way fast enough. He landed hard against the ground on his palms but his arms absorbed the impact and he rolled onto his back quickly, just in time to feel Daisuke straddle him and grab him around the neck. Blood streamed down his face from his bleeding nose and an ugly snarl had replaced his normally charming features. Heero felt the muscles in Daisuke's legs flex as his hand tightened around his neck. Daisuke drew a hand across his face and swore at the blood that was smeared against the back of his hand.   
"You bastard! You fucking bastard!" The rage was clear in his voice. Heero bucked in an attempt to throw him off and he almost succeeded but Daisuke's bigger body meant that he had longer legs meaning that he could afford to move a little.   
"You made me bleed." Daisuke said coldly as he smashed a fist down on Heero's face. Stars exploded across Heero's vision and he bit back a grunt of pain. Daisuke had landed a powerful punch right next to his nose, Heero was thankful that he hadn't hit his nose as he was quite sure that it would have broken under those large fists. Another blow landed, this time against his cheek bone and then another that forced his head to the side. Heero lashed out as Daisuke paused to draw back his fist and smacked Daisuke in the face again. Daisuke let out a cry of pain as his already much abused nose was the victim of yet another blow. He stupidly brought up both hands to clutch at his bleeding nose and Heero took the opportunity to buck him off of him. He rolled on top of the taller boy and straddled him. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, he pulled him up and then slammed him back onto the ground. Daisuke let out a wheezing cough that was quickly cut off as Heero repeated the motion.   
"Do you give up?" Heero asked coldly as he tightened his grip on Daisuke's shirt. With an inarticulate yell, Daisuke swung wildly, his long arms lashing out. Heero cursed and pulled his arms away to block the punch that came straight at his face. Daisuke grabbed Heero's arms and threw him over him. Heero barely managed to twist so that he could roll with the throw and to his feet. He shook his head slightly the feeling of weightlessness that accompanied blows to the head. He watched as Daisuke staggered to his feet shakily and then turn around to glare angrily at him. He wasn't a pretty sight. Blood stained his shirt from where it had dripped off his chin. His eyes were practically burning with rage and his hands were covered in blood. Heero felt something trickling down his face and hastily brought a hand up to brush it away. It came away red, a deep dark red. He narrowed his eyes, realising that Daisuke had broken the skin over his cheek bone. With that realisation, his cheek began to sting and throb.   
"You fucking bastard." Heero just smirked at Daisuke. As always, the bully was never use to being hit and the loss of control would make him easier to beat. He suddenly stiffened as Daisuke smirked darkly, his eyes flashing with a dark light as he looked at him. Heero tensed his muscles in anticipation of any blows that were to come.   
"I'm done playing with you. I'm going to kill you." Heero frowned, his eyes narrowing to mere slits. Daisuke started walking slowly, threateningly, much like a cat about to eat it's prey. Prey it had just finished playing with. Heero shifted slightly in order to keep Daisuke in his line of sight and he was becoming agitated with the way Daisuke was acting. Narrowed emerald looked at him from half-closed eyes in a lazy fashion. Daisuke stopped and started to walk the other way, his hands slipping into his pockets. He smirked darkly and Heero growled, deep in his throat.   
"Impatient? Patience is a virtue Yuy." Heero snorted. What a hypocrite. Slowly, tauntingly, Daisuke drew his hands out of his pockets and Heero growled again. Gleams of silver bounced off the twin butterfly knives in Daisuke's hands, the six inch blades were sharp and deadly if used properly. And Heero didn't doubt that Daisuke knew how to use them.   
"Knives?" Heero questioned in an emotionless voice, his dark eyes watching the blades carefully. Daisuke let out a deep chuckle and smiled nastily.   
"We never said anything about not using weapons." Heero didn't reply but just continued to watch him wearily. This could be a bad thing.   
"That's not fair! You can't do that!" They both turned to see Li Mei stepping into the circle, her large eyes bright with anger.   
"Get out." Heero growled. He edged towards her, intent on making sure she wasn't going to get in the way. Daisuke frowned and lowered the knives to his side.   
"My dear, you really shouldn't interfere in this fight. It's a fight between men."   
"Get back." Heero didn't agree with the "fight between men" thing, but he didn't want her to get involved. Well, more involved than she already was.   
"But-" Li Mei looked at him.   
"Get back." Heero ground out. A hurt look flashed through her eyes as she stepped back and Juni snagged her arm again. Heero was very tempted to apologise but he could do that later, once he was done with Daisuke. He turned to face Daisuke again. The taller boy was glaring at him, his eyes burning with anger. It was time to end this fight.   
"You don't deserve her." Daisuke spat out.   
"And you do?" Heero questioned coldly. Daisuke let out a growl and brought his knives up again. Without any more words, Daisuke threw himself forward, his long legs launching him over the space between them. Heero growled and prepared himself. With a quick step and duck, he dodged the first two swipes Daisuke made. He could feel frustration and anger emanating from Daisuke and grimaced. He was pretty sure that Daisuke wasn't playing. He bit back a hiss as he managed to slice through his shirt and leave a trail of crimson that quickly soaked through his shirt. Daisuke's feral grin widened and he leapt at him again with a cry.   
"Ha!" Heero blocked the first strike and pushed his arm away and leant back just in time to avoid getting his throat slit, the blade whistling as it passed through the air. Heero leapt backwards to get space and glared at Daisuke as slowly shifted from side to side as he watched him. The feral, blood thirsty light in his eyes was making Heero edgy. He had to finish this fight. Now. He narrowed his eyes again and ran towards Daisuke. Not expecting an offensive move, Daisuke stepped back in surprise, enough to allow Heero to grab one of his wrists with one hand and then wrench the knife out of it. He quickly rolled away as Daisuke slashed at him and got to his feet. He brought the knife up in time to block a stab and then twisted around his arm to slam his knee into Daisuke's stomach. He hissed as Daisuke slashed him across his left arm, the sound of shredding cloth filling his ears. He punched out on reflex and heard the satisfying sound of Daisuke's face meeting his fist. With a careful leap backwards, he put space between them again. He could feel the blood trickling down his arm and his side. He was sure he didn't look as bad as Daisuke though. Blood dripped down his face from his nose and lips, various bruises forming all around his face and a slight limp and stiffness to his movements denoted that he was in pain and was quite close to losing. But the fire in his eyes said he wouldn't lose without a fight.   
"Hn." Heero grunted as he watched Daisuke start moving towards him again. He didn't even wait for him to get close before he moved. He would finish this now. As silently as a shadow, Heero closed the distance between them and slammed a fist into Daisuke's solar plexus, the taller boy crumpling as an agonised expression flitted over his features. Without wasting any time, Heero slugged him across the face and then twisted him over his body and slammed him into the ground. Daisuke grunted painfully as his vision exploded with colours and he danced on the edge of consciousness. Heero leant down and grabbed him by the collar and then punched him across the face again. Daisuke went limp as he fell over the edge into oblivion. 

Heero slowly let go of Daisuke and stepped back. His breath was coming out in harsh gasps as he looked down at Daisuke's unconscious form. He took another step back and sucked in a lungful of air. Only to have it forced out again as a small, warm form wrapped around him and he stumbled and fell to the ground from a mixture of surprise and blood loss and pain. He looked down to see a head of dark purple hair buried against his chest. Li Mei pressed herself as close as she could to him as she surrounded herself with the comforting feel of his aura and hugged him tightly.   
"Oh Heero! I was so worried about you!" He felt Li Mei tighten her arms around him. She looked up, her large crimson eyes wide with worry and concern.   
"Hn." He watched as she buried her face against his chest again and shake slightly. His gaze softened, ever so slightly, and brought a hand up to touch her back.   
"Well, you won Yuy." His gaze snapped up and he growled. His arms wrapped around Li Mei unconsciously as he glared at Juni. She shrugged off his glare and snorted down at him. "Don't get your shorts in a twist. I'm not about to take her from you. Seems to me she knows who she wants. Besides, you two make a cute couple." She winked at them both before turning back to her brother. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to look after this sorry excuse of a brother of mine. Just remember Yuy, we'll be back for her." With that, Juni spun on her heel and started ordering people around to pick her brother up and bring him to the nurses office. Soon, Heero was left alone with Li Mei, her slender form still wrapped tightly in his arms.   
"Heero?" He looked down and lost himself in her eyes. "Are you all right?" She whispered as she looked up into his face. She reached up, a small pale hand lightly touching the cut on his face. He winced at the unexpected pain and Li Mei frowned. She got up from his lap and held out her hands to him. Heero looked down at his lap and then back up at her, his arms feeling empty from where she had left him.   
"Come on Heero, get up. We have to get you to the nurse's office."   
"Hn." Heero grunted as he ignored her hands and got up by himself. Li Mei sighed and picked up his bag and hers, holding them in the same hand as she folded his jacket back over her arm. She grabbed Heero's arm and proceeded to drag him, if that's what you could call gently coaxing and pleading, to the nurse's office under grunts of refusal and denial. 

Li Mei quickly sat Heero down on a chair as soon as they arrived at the nurse's office. There wasn't anyone else there so she assumed that Daisuke had been taken away already. She grimaced at the thought of the fight. It had been rather brutal and bloody. She winced every time she heard the sound of flesh against flesh and the sight of the blood spraying across the circle. She moved over to the bench where there were cotton buds and some cloths. She stood in front of Heero.   
"Take off your shirt." Heero looked at her silently, surprise on his face. She sighed and reached for the buttons of his shirt but his hands moved and closed around her own and held them in place. She looked up at his face.   
"Heero, let me look at your cuts. They're still bleeding. I have to clean them and cover them up." Heero looked at her for another moment before dropping his hands. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt and then pulled it off, apologising when she made him wince as she peeled his shirt away from his bloody side.   
"Oh Heero..." She whispered as she looked at it. A long cut that ran from just under his pectoral to under his arm pit was sluggishly bleeding. She steeled herself and started to dab at it with a cloth. Heero hissed and jerked slightly.   
"Sorry." She reached over him and grabbed the bottle of alcohol. She poured a little onto the cloth and then paused, her hand hovering over his side.   
"Heero? This is going to hurt. Okay?" Heero grunted and she nodded. She pressed the cloth against his side and she heard Heero let out a breath. She tried to clean it as quickly and thoroughly as she could and then she quickly taped a bandage over it that she had found in the drawer of the desk. She idly wondered why the nurse wasn't there but shrugged it off. She made quick work of Heero's arm wound and then started on his face. She avoided looking into his eyes even though she was well aware of his gaze watching her face intently. She was wiping away the blood from his cheek and the corner of his mouth when Heero's hand reached up again to grab her hand. She stopped her movements and forced herself to look into his eyes. She blinked at the strange expression she saw on his face, in his eyes.   
"Why are you so worried about me?" He asked. She blinked and then smiled.   
"Because. You've been so nice to me. And... it's my fault you're hurt." She replied softly.   
"Nice?"   
"Yeah, I mean, you didn't have to help me. You could have left me to the wolves, so to speak. You... you protected me. You fought for me. Thank you." She leant forward and kissed his cheek, the uncut one, quickly and drew back with a deep blush. Heero had a surprised expression on his face as he brought up a hand to touch where she had kissed him. He looked at her deeply blushing face and, for a brief moment, allowed a smile to tilt the corners of his lips up. Li Mei looked up just as his smile faded away and then she tilted her head at him.   
"Heero?"   
"Hn."   
"Do you want to be friends?" He looked at her for a long, long moment.   
"Hn." She smiled brightly and went back to cleaning his cut, humming cheerfully as she did so. Heero allowed himself a ghost of a smile. 

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**A.N**   
Saa! That was LONG! And that was only the first day! Luckily, I'm not going to do another one like this one. The rest gonna be just as good (I hope ^_^;) but shorter! This baby was over 10 000 words! I'm so sorry it took me so long to write! *bows profusely* There will be another two chapters about their history. I've got it all planned out in this chaotic mind of mine! It'll all work out and it'll be all good! I really hope you liked this chap. Feel free to comment and stuff! Thanks so much for reading! ^_^   
Yeah, again, I drew a pic of Li Mei. If anyone wants it, just e-mail me, mm kay? DreamWeaver@dangerous-minds.com Yeah... if anyone really wants it... ^_^;   
FYI : Her subjects are based on mine. I do all that stuff, except I do legal studies as well as that. But I don't get those marks. T_T I'm not that smart. But I do try hard! LOL Nah, I just chose those subjects cuz it would be easier to blab on about them, y'know? If I do them, then I know what they're on 'bout! LOL. Yeah. But keep in mind, I DO NOT get those kinda marks... well, maybe in english ^_^, but that's it. I'm TERRIBLE at maths. So bad, it's not funny. *sigh*   
.oO(Babbling...)   
Oh, right. I'll stop! Thanks for reading! Love you all! *waves* 'Til the next part! 


	8. Heero and Li Mei's Past Part 2

*coughs* all right, this has taken AGES to come out. Sorry! To anyone who's actually read it. ^_^;; So sorry!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or 3x3 Eyes.  
  
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Heero ducked underneath a rather sloppy left hook and came up with a quick jab. A low hiss of pain was his reward and he followed through with a powerful cross, catching the bent over brunette across the face and sent him reeling backwards. He shifted his shoulders slightly to loosen his shirt around his torso. Around them tiny snow flakes fell giving the pavement and buildings a light covering of white and making the scenery quite peaceful and calm looking. The irony was not lost on Heero and he smirked slightly, his lips twitching up in a cold smile as he regarded the wheezing boy.  
"Give up?" He asked coldly.  
"Never." Daisuke spat out hatefully, his emerald eyes spitting fire. Heero didn't mind really, it would give him more time to pound on the annoying, stuck up, egotistical, obsessive psychopath.  
"Hn." Heero grunted and put his fists back up. The circle of students surrounding the pair started to roar in encouragement. Ever since Heero had beaten Daisuke in that first fight, his social status had gone up, not only because they feared his fighting prowess, but because he actually stood up to Daisuke.  
"Ah!" Heero brushed aside the cross to his face and elbowed Daisuke in his already injured side. Daisuke grunted but caught Heero off guard with a head butt, slamming his forehead into Heero's. Heero blinked back the stars the clouded his vision and instinctively brought his hands up to ward off the weak punch aimed at his head. Daisuke lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Heero, pinning his arms to his side. Heero winced and grunted as Daisuke squeezed tightly. He could hear the other students screaming in encouragement for both him and Daisuke. He struggled but lacked the leverage to get Daisuke's arms out from around him. He did one of the only things he knew to do in a situation like this. He brought his knee up. Hard.  
"Oomph!" Heero was disappointed that he hadn't gotten the blow in properly but at least Daisuke let him go in order to prevent any other attempts. He shoved Heero away and glared furiously at him as he gingerly shifted his weight from his left leg to his right leg. Instead of hitting his... target, Heero had managed to get in a pretty damn painful strike to his inner thigh, making it quite hard to stand properly.  
"That was a cheap shot Yuy!" Daisuke spat out.  
"Hn. Knives[1]." Heero shot back in his usual monotone voice. Daisuke flushed. He swore angrily, his lips twisting into an ugly snarl as he regarded the defiant boy. He really, really hated Heero. He could feel the emotion simmering beneath his skin, eating away at him. He wanted to see the boy bleed. He licked his lips as he imagined his bloodstained face. A feral smile curved his lips and a disturbing light came into his eyes.  
"Hn." Heero felt the hairs stand up at the back of his neck as he watched Daisuke smile, the bloodthirsty gleam sending shivers down his spine. Suddenly, the screams stopped and he turned his head slightly to see a small, feminine figure break through the circle of students and regard him and Daisuke with a small frown.  
"What's going on here?" Her soft voice cut through the tense air clearly. Her large crimson eyes swung from him to Daisuke, the piercing orbs missing nothing.  
"Hn." Heero straightened, tossing his head slightly as his bangs fell to cover his eyes in shadow. It was the end of the fight, Li Mei's presence effectively killing the mood.  
"Li Mei." There was a slightly savage tone to Daisuke's voice as he eyed his object of affection with hungry eyes. Li Mei shrank away from him wearily, her sense screaming at her to get back.  
"Daisuke." She said politely. She turned to Heero and regarded him quietly. She knew that Heero hadn't started the fight but she knew he did nothing to stop it. Daisuke on the other hand... Daisuke and Heero's dislike for each other had sky rocketed since Daisuke's defeat. At every opportunity that he got, Daisuke was determined to either humiliate Heero or beat him into the ground. Heero usually refused to respond to his taunting and Li Mei's quiet presence made it all the more harder for Daisuke to do anything. But that didn't mean that they didn't fight. They did. A lot. Li Mei usually ended up prying them apart, her small frame surprisingly strong. It also helped that they would always stop when she came anywhere near their fight.  
She tilted her head slightly to watch Daisuke for a moment. The disturbing light had faded from his eyes and he looked a little worse for wear. She mentally sighed, her large eyes narrowing slightly as she regarded him.  
"Perhaps you should go to the nurse's office Daisuke. That cut looks like it needs to be cleaned." Daisuke reached up and brushed a hand against his forehead where he'd split the skin. He frowned and then glared hatefully at Heero.  
"Yes. I'll see you later then, my dear." He reached out and grabbed onto Li Mei's hand before she could move away. He leant down and kissed it lightly before turning around on his heel, jerking his head as he did so, and one of his many lackeys followed after him with his bag and jacket. Li Mei wiped her hand against her skirt and shivered. Daisuke scared her.  
"Hn." She heard Heero growling behind her and sighed softly. She turned back to him and reached up, gently brushing his bangs out of his eyes.  
"You have a bump on your head." She said lightly. Heero grunted but didn't move away from her touch. She turned to one of the students that hovered by their side. The boy, blushing as she gave him a warm smile, held out Heero's bag and jacket.  
"Thank you, Hiroshi." He blushed deeper.  
"She remembered my name." He whispered softly. A soft growl from Heero broke him out of his daydreaming and he quickly retreated but not before he cast a wistful glance back at the short beauty.  
"What was the fight about this time?" She asked as she took Heero's arm and led him over to one of the benches underneath the shading cloth. She sat down and laid their bags and his jacket next to her. Heero sat down silently by her side and allowed her to pick up his hand and examine it carefully. He looked down and noticed that the skin over his knuckles was bruised quite badly and he flexed his fingers to assess if they would impair his writing abilities. Li Mei shook her head and sighed as she rubbed her hand slightly over his hand, her cool skin rubbing against his.  
"Heero, I know that you don't start these fights, but maybe you should try to stop them." Heero looked at her as if to say 'are you kidding?' and she blinked and then tilted her head. "You're right. It wouldn't work. He'll just keep trying to hurt you."  
"Hn."  
"Honestly, you'd think he was trying to kill you the way he goes at you." Heero snorted. Trust her to miss out the fact that Daisuke did want him dead. She thought it was only petty rivalry. She was just too naive.  
"Hn." She kept rubbing his hand, enjoying the sensation. As he watched her, he thought back on the past few months that he had known the smaller girl.  
A softly spoken, polite, gentle, trusting and friendly girl, she as an enigma to him. He could never quite tell what was on her mind, what made her tick. She was far more than what she showed to the world. She wasn't just an innocent young girl. There was fire in her, passion and power, and he could feel it simmering just beneath the surface. Sometimes, he could swear he saw flickers of blue around her, but he brushed it off as a trick of the light. He felt it every time he touched her, when they were sitting next to each other and their hands or knees would brush against it each other.  
He couldn't believe how much she had wormed her way into his life in the short time he had known her. They spent almost every moment at school together. She sat next to him in every period they had together and then lunchtime and recess, they sat together in the library. She was pleasant to be around and he quite liked her, though he never showed it. He felt protective whenever she was near. He continuously resisted the urge to wrap himself around her and protect her from everything bad in the world. He always felt warm and tingly deep inside whenever she was near. He felt... content, happy maybe.  
"There. Does your hand feel any better?" Heero quickly looked down at her and then at his hand. Though it looked no worse from when she had started rubbing it, it really didn't hurt half as much as before. He flexed his fingers again. It still ached slightly, but nothing that he couldn't live with. He looked down at her for a moment, admiring her beauty, before nodding.  
"Hn." She smiled and hugged his arm. He watched as she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder like a cat.  
"So what did you do last night?" She asked lightly. He shrugged.  
"Nothing."  
"Nothing? Are you serious? Nothing?" She clucked her tongue and gave him a mock reproving look. "Well, we'll just see about that! You need to get out more!"  
"Hn." Heero didn't really have anything to say about that. Where would he go? What would he do?  
"Well, I'm going to make sure you do something exciting at least once a week! Starting... now!" She smiled and looked up at him. "Wanna go to the movies sometime?"  
"Hn." Heero considered it. He didn't have any homework to do. He'd already finished what he was supposed to do for the week over the weekend.  
"Come on! I promise that it'll be fun!" Heero looked down at her face, an adorable puppy-dog look on her face.  
"Hn." He sighed and gave in.  
"Yay! We'll have lots of fun!" Li Mei smiled happily and hugged his arm. In the silence that followed, she was quite content to sit with the brunette boy with dark blue eyes that haunted her dreams.  
Despite his outwardly cold and harsh attitude, Li Mei had grown quite fond of the boy. Heero Yuy wasn't like anyone she had ever met before.  
He was beyond quiet. He didn't really talk. He grunted, he answered in the shortest sentences possible and he didn't like any kinds of physical contact with people. Except for her. It puzzled her but she didn't say anything about it. After all, why should she complain? It gave her an excuse to touch him.  
The main reason she liked to touch him was his aura; it drew her like a moth to a flame. It was incredible! Power, control, danger, passion... She could feel it all around him. For some reason, she couldn't stop herself from trying to get within his personal space, holding his arm, touching his knee in passing, anything to feel that aura. It comforted her beyond anything she'd ever felt before. And she had no idea why. Everyone had an aura but she wasn't attracted to him or her like she was to Heero. Her mother had a warm, loving and powerful aura. Her father had an aura that just screamed power and control. And Shing, his aura was of control and danger. It must have been the combination of things she felt in Heero's aura that called to her. She could have been considered obsessed but she had a feeling that he felt something similar to her. She wasn't blind to his warm glances or tiny smiles. She cherished them. But it wasn't just his aura that drew her to him; it was his personality, or the side that he didn't show to many people, if anyone. He wasn't nearly as tough as he tried to make people believe he was. He was a kind, judging from the way he had looked after her on her first day. He was strong and he was confident. He stood up for himself and he wasn't afraid of what other people thought. He could be so gentle, so very sweet and warm when he let down his guard. She had seen him smile at her slightly, warmly, when he thought she wasn't looking and he was always helping her without her having to ask. His attentive nature was very cute and always made her smile. He had an excellent sense of humour and he was very witty. He didn't say his comments out loud much, but sometimes, she'd hear him say something under his breath and she would burst out laughing. He was very observant and he was always in control.  
And he was also lonely.  
Li Mei's heart went out to him sometimes. She had talked about the close relationship she and her parents had and had seen the wistful and longing look in his eyes. She had wanted to hug him, in fact, she had. Heero had stiffened in surprise but she had refused to let go and slowly, Heero had relaxed in her embrace. He hadn't returned it, but he hadn't pushed her away. After that, Heero hadn't seemed to mind when she hugged him. She had even gotten him to open up a little. He had told her about his parents and his relationship, or lack thereof, with them. He told her about what he wanted to do in College and what his childhood was like and everything! Of course, it had all been stilted, chopped up and patched together. He would talk quietly about it for a moment and then suddenly ask her about her family. She was happy to tell him about them, of course, she'd omit a few details, but she would tell him about what they did. She promised herself that she'd invite him over one day and then he could share in her family's happiness as well.  
If living with so many people had taught her anything, the emotions that Heero brought out in her were quickly approaching love. She felt her cheeks flush slightly just thinking about what she felt. It made her tingle all over.  
Heero felt her shiver but misinterpreted the action, thinking she was cold.  
"Hn. Let's go to the library." Heero got up and picked up his bag and jacket from beside Li Mei. She followed, hooking her arm through his again and they started off towards the large building on their right. They hadn't gotten very far when a voice interrupted them.  
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the hottest little couple in school." Li Mei blinked and turned around. She smiled cheerfully and waved her hand.  
"Juni! Good morning. How was gym practice?" The bigger girl had sort of given up on her after Heero had not so subtly staked his claim on Li Mei, even though the said girl wasn't actually aware of it. Though, Juni did like to tease Li Mei and Heero.  
"Morning kid, Heero. Gym was fine, as always." Juni said with a smile as she walked up to them. Her hair was a little damp from the shower she had just taken in the girl's change rooms. She brushed it back from her face.  
"Hn." Heero nodded grudgingly. Juni rolled her eyes and punched him lightly on the shoulder.  
"Heero, lighten up. As tempting as you girl friend is, I'm not going to jump her, okay?" Heero glared. Juni smirked and ran a hand through her hair again. She frowned as through she was just remembering something.  
"I forgot. Daisuke's skulking around here." She watched as Li Mei grimaced slightly and Heero's dark eyes blazed angrily. "Ah. I see you already met up with him."  
"Mm." Li Mei said. Heero glared straight ahead.  
"Sorry about him. He's always been a little obsessive."  
"And you aren't?" Heero muttered under his breath. Li Mei bit back a giggle and fought down the smile that followed. Luckily, Juni didn't hear him.  
"Saa, it's okay. He'll get over it." Li Mei paused and looked up at Juni uncertainly. "Won't he?"  
"Don't know. He's never been this bad before." Juni shrugged apologetically.  
"He'd better." Heero ground out angrily. Juni raised an eyebrow.  
"Oh, and what do you plan on doing to him, Heero dear?" She purred dangerously. Sure, Daisuke was a psycho, but he was her brother none the less.  
"Hn." Heero glared at her in response.  
"Heero's not going to do anything to him, Juni." Li Mei said quickly, tightening her hand around Heero's slightly. Heero instinctively calmed down. Juni's eyes narrowed slightly and then she smiled. They were so cute! Damn, if only Li Mei wasn't taken... oh well, there were other fish in the sea, as the saying goes.  
"I hope not. He is my brother after all. Despite his psychotic behaviour, I do have to stand up for him. Don't worry. I'll make sure he stays in line." Juni winked at Heero. "But I'm pretty sure your knight in shining armour here is going to keep you safe kid." Li Mei blushed.  
"Juni! And I'm not a kid." Juni laughed, a throaty, sensual sound. She stepped forward and brought her hand down gently on the shorter girl's head, which barely even reached her chin. She rubbed the soft curls lightly.  
"Li Mei, you're way too short to be anything else." Li Mei pouted cutely. Juni sighed deeply. Damn! Heero would kill her, maybe even literally, if she even considered trying to take Li Mei away.  
"I'm not short. Just vertically challenged." She replied with a small huff.  
"Sure kid." Juni turned her head as though she could hear something. Sure enough, a moment later, a darkly glaring Daisuke walked out of the building sporting a bandage on his forehead. It was almost possible to see the storm clouds gathering over his head. Juni snorted.  
"Hey, you two get out of here. I'll keep him occupied." She made a shooing motion but it wasn't needed. Li Mei and Heero were already walking away. Li Mei cast a thankful look over her shoulder and Juni winked before she turned to face her enraged brother.  
"Hey there Daisuke. What's got you in such a hurry?"  
  
"Daisuke scares me." She said softly as she leant her head against his arm as they walked up the stairs towards the library.  
"Hn." Heero grunted and looked down at her. She tilted her head up to look at him when she felt his gaze on her.  
"Mm?"  
"Hn." Heero turned his eyes back to the front and he reached out to open the door of the library, hauling the heavy oak door open. He nudged Li Mei ahead of him and then followed behind her as they walked past the front desk.  
"Good morning Mrs. Furikawa!" Li Mei said brightly as they passed the middle-aged woman who sat behind the desk. Mrs. Furikawa blinked and then smiled, returning Li Mei's wave with a small one of her own.  
"Good morning Li Mei, Heero." Heero nodded politely at the greeting. Li Mei walked down to a table at the back corner and sat down, carefully putting down her laptop and books on the desk in front of her. Heero sat down next to her and put his things next to hers. "So what do you wanna do now?" She asked him.  
"Hn."  
"Saa..." Li Mei blew a curl of hair away from her eyes. She covered her mouth as she yawned loudly.  
"Get enough sleep?" Heero asked as he glanced at her as he took out his books from his bag. She nodded and stretched her arms above her head. Heero's gaze flitted down to her chest, watching as the material of her shirt stretched over her bosom. He felt a flush rising on his face and averted his eyes quickly.  
"Mm. I stayed up too late reading." She winced and rubbed her neck. She jumped slightly in surprise when she felt strong hands against her neck. She turned her head slightly to meet Heero's eyes. Nervousness and self-consciousness flitter across his face before it settled back into the normal blank mask that he wore.  
"Massage." He muttered as he looked away and started kneading the tense muscles of her neck she was about to tell him not to bother himself when his fingers dug into a particularly sore spot. She melted like butter on a pan.  
  
Heero heard her soft sigh of pleasure as he gently but firmly massaged her neck muscles. He watched as her eyes half closed from his position behind her. He felt something twist inside him when she started to purr, a soft rumbling sound that was not quite unlike that of a cat. He shivered slightly. He felt her relax completely, her small frame leaning back into him as she did.  
"Nice..." She purred, her eyes mere slits.  
"Hn." Heero continued his ministrations. He felt something wash over him and grunted in surprise. It was like someone has just dumped a bucket of hot water over him, soaking him to the bone. His hands stopped moving as he revelled in the feeling. He didn't know how long they sat like that but he would have gladly had stayed like this forever. Alas, some things just weren't meant to be.  
"Yuy." Heero looked to his right and growled angrily. Daisuke was standing there, his hands clenched in fists as he looked between Li Mei and Heero angrily.  
"What?" Heero growled out coldly.  
"What do you think you're doing?" Daisuke fairly exploded with rage. Li Mei jerked out of her stupor at the sound of Daisuke's yell. She let out a startled squeak and instinctively pressed back against Heero, burying her face against the comforting warmth. He wrapped his arms around her instinctively and glared angrily at Daisuke who only seemed to get angrier at Li Mei's reaction.  
"What do you want Kudou?" Daisuke opened his mouth and was about to yell a reply when Heero cut him off coldly.  
"Shout and I'll shut you up." Daisuke blinked in surprise at the blatantly threatening tone in the smaller boy's voice. Li Mei blinked and straightened, all signs of her previous relaxation gone in an instant.  
"Saa... Heero, Daisuke, this is a library." Li Mei said trying to calm them down. She didn't want them to start fighting again, especially in the library. It was bad enough when they came close to blows in the corridors or open areas between classes and break times but to have them at each other's throats in the library was a different thing altogether. After all, you're supposed to be quiet in the library. She needed to get Heero away from Daisuke before they started fighting again. The loud chime of the first bell sounded throughout the silent library, marking the start of the school day. She sighed in relief.  
"I'm sorry Daisuke, Heero and I have to go to class now." Li Mei got up and started picking up her things quickly. The faster they got out of there, the better. She nudged Heero with her hip and he stood silently and picked up his things as well.  
Daisuke watched with a sour expression on his face as he thought of horrible things he could do to Heero.  
"Saa, Daisuke, could you please move?" Li Mei's quiet voice broke his line of thought. He looked down to see her looking up at him expectantly, her large eyes patient. He stepped to the side out of reflex and she walked past him. He watched her swaying hips as she walked past and would have whistled if he hadn't been yanked violently around. He gulped reflexively as he stared in burning Prussian blue eyes. It took him a moment to get his fear under control and when he did, he roughly shoved Heero away.  
"Don't touch me." He sneered. Heero's glare intensified. The smaller boy opened his mouth to say something, but a voice stopped him.  
"Heero." Li Mei's soft voice carried out across the library and Daisuke turned. She was watching them with large, unreadable crimson eyes. There was a small frown on her face as she turned her eyes to him. He noted, with extreme annoyance, that they softened when she turned them to Heero. He looked back and saw Heero was already walking around the tables to join her. They left without another word, but not before Heero sent another burning glare his way. Daisuke felt a shiver run down his spine.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
It was the last period of the day and everyone was feeling a little lazy. It didn't help that it was so very warm in the classroom because it had only stopped snowing a few minutes ago. The room was all sleepy and it was obvious from the yawns and stretching going on that no one was really in the mood to do any work.  
Heero took a sheet of paper from the bundle that was being passed around and handed the rest to Li Mei who took one and passed it on. He looked down at the piece of paper. It was another assignment based on the play 'Romeo and Juliet' that they had been reading for class. He read the assignment sheet thoroughly from top to bottom. It consisted of two parts. One part was a written report of no more than four pages on three themes in the book and how they are shown. The second part was a reading of an extract from the play that supported one theme that was being reported on.  
"All right class. I'm handing out your next assignment." There was a collective groan throughout the class. The English teacher, Miss Chisakawa, frowned. "Now, now. None of that. It's a group project. In pairs. I'm going to let you choose who you're going with." There was a soft cheer. The teacher frowned. "However." She paused and looked around intently. "I don't want you mucking about. You had better give me a good assignment or I'll never let you work in pairs of your own choosing again. Do I make myself clear?" There was a general groan from the most of the class.  
"Yes Miss Chisakawa."  
"Good. I'm going to assume that you know who you want to be paired up with so just raise your hands and I'll take the names down." Heero didn't even look her way as Li Mei raised her hand.  
"Yes Miss Zhang? Who's your partner?"  
"Heero." Miss Chisakawa raised an eyebrow at Heero who only stared back coldly. She shrugged to herself and noted it down.  
"All right. Who else has their partner organised?"  
"Saa, Heero. Which ones do you want to do?" Li Mei leant over and poked Heero's shoulder lightly.  
"Hn."  
"Themes." Heero shrugged. He didn't really care.  
"Hn."  
"All right. What about love, hate and family loyalty?" Heero looked at her, a strange look in his eyes. She blinked back at him. "What?"  
"Hn."  
"So you wanna do those themes?"  
"Hn."  
"All right! Hey, want to come over to my place today? We can start on it this afternoon. You can stay over for dinner!" Heero opened his mouth to refuse but looking at Li Mei's hopeful and happy face, he sighed and accepted, resigned to his fate.  
"Fine." She smiled happily.  
"Yay!" Heero felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips. Her happiness was a nice thing to see.  
  
"Heero, we have to wait for a Shing to pick us up. He's a family friend and he said he'd pick me up after school so we have to wait for him. I tried to call him, but he already left and he turned off his phone." Li Mei was standing next to him as he leant against the wall of the car park. She hugged his arm and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.  
"Hn."  
"Say Heero, how far do you live from school?"  
"I live on West Street[2]."  
"Uh... where's that?"  
"Twenty five minutes from school."  
"Oh. Does it bother you to walk so far?"  
"Hn."  
"Oh. I've never really liked walking myself. I'm a little lazy."  
"Hn."  
"Yeah. Seriously. I never walk if I don't have to. But I don't really like driving around in cars so I usually just stay at home. I read. Or something. I usually read."  
"What do you read?"  
"Um... Mostly fantasy. Sci-fi is good too. So is occult."  
"You read occult?" Heero couldn't say that he was exactly surprised. She just didn't look the type but he had a feeling that she did a lot of things people would never expect from her.  
"Yeah. Sure. Why not? It's all pretty interesting. Ever read any?" Heero shook his head slightly.  
"No."  
"Really? You should try reading one. I mean you have to try everything at least once. That's what I think."  
"Hn."  
"I've got some really good vampire ones if you want. I've read them dozens of times. I wouldn't miss them."  
"I don't know." Heero looked pretty doubtful.  
"They're good. Really. They've actually got a plot and stuff. It's interesting. Just try one."  
"Hn."  
"Mm kay... but if you ever change your mind, all you have to do is ask."  
"Hn." Heero's eyes turned towards the entrance of the parking lot as a long, sleek black car entered through the gates. Heero narrowed his eyes slightly.  
"Shing's here. Come on." She pulled him along behind her gently and Heero followed after her a little reluctantly. The passenger seat window opened slowly and Heero looked at the man who looked out unemotionally.  
Prussian blue met glinting gold that chilled over as they assessed Heero, the handsome face turning cold as he noticed how closely Heero stood to Li Mei.  
"Hello." The voice was cold and smooth.  
"Hi Shing. This is Heero. He's really nice and smart." She turned to Heero and smiled at him. "Heero, this is Shing. He's a family friend and he's nice too." Turning back to Shing, she continued. "Heero's coming over. We got an English assignment today and he's my partner. I was hoping we could start early on it so that we could get it all good and organised before it's due so we won't have any problems later." Li Mei said brightly. Shing nodded and opened the door. He slid over on the seat and Li Mei sat down next to him. Heero slid down next to her and they pulled out of the parking lot a moment later.  
"So what's this assignment about?" Shing politely questioned, his eyes never leaving Heero.  
"Oh. You know how we've been studying 'Romeo and Juliet' by Shakespeare?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, we're supposed to identify some themes and write about them. Then we're supposed to act out one of the scenes to emphasise one of the themes."  
"What themes are you doing?"  
"Love, hate and family loyalty." Shing raised an eyebrow at Heero. Heero stared back blankly.  
"Who chose the themes?"  
"Oh, I did."  
"I see." There was silence in the car for a while, Shing stewing in dark thoughts, casting glares at Heero, who returned them.  
"So how was your meeting?" Li Mei asked Shing.  
"Meeting? Oh. It was all right. Just the usual boring things. I was hoping I could have gotten off earlier but they wanted me to look over and review some things."  
"Oh." Li Mei really didn't understand what it was exactly that Shing did, she just asked to be polite. And it seemed to make Shing happy, so hey, why not?  
"I'm a lawyer." Shing said, in a way of explanation when Heero looked at him blankly.  
"Hn." He didn't seem very impressed. Shing grit his teeth together. Snotty brat.  
"He's one of the best. He was practically attacked from all sides by different firms who wanted to get him to work for them when we all moved here."  
"You give me too much praise." Shing said warmly and he reached out to stroke a curl from Li Mei's face. Li Mei stiffened slightly but didn't pull away, not wanting to offend him. Heero seemed to sense her discomfort and frowned at Shing. Li Mei immediately hugged Heero's arm when Shing moved his hand away.  
"What area of law?" Heero asked. Perhaps if he talked, Shing wouldn't make Li Mei uncomfortable.  
"Corporate." Shing replied.  
"Hn." Well, that attempt at conversation died quickly. Heero briefly wondered if he should start another conversations.  
"I never really understood what you meant by corporate law." Li Mei said thoughtfully.  
"Well,  
"Ah..." Li Mei nodded with a blank look on her face. Heero smirked slightly.  
"It seems like a very important job." Li Mei said.  
"It is." Shing replied.  
"Hn." Shing looked at Heero sharply at his lack of reply and frowned.  
  
"So how did you meet Li Mei?" Shing asked. Li Mei blinked at the almost challenging note in Shing's voice. She got a sinking feeling in her stomach...  
"She's in my class." Heero replied.  
"Really now. What class would that be?"  
"SDD, English and maths."  
"I see." Shing said softly, all the while watching him with hard eyes. They all settled into a tense silence with Li Mei looking worriedly between the two of them, her large eyes darkening slightly.  
"Heero, when is that SDD assignment due in?" Li Mei asked in the silence.  
"Two weeks Tuesday."  
"Good. That means I'll have enough time to get it done." She smiled cheerfully in an attempt to calm them both down. It seemed to work. Shing sat back in his seat and Heero turned his eyes back to the front.  
"Hn." He grunted and Li Mei smiled.  
"So what did you do this morning Li Mei? I heard that you went to school a little earlier than usual today."  
"Oh, that's right. I had to ask one of my teachers about something."  
"Ah. What did you do then?"  
"Heero and I went up to the library."  
"I see."  
"Hn." Heero's eyes hardened at the silky tone of Shing's voice.  
"So you go to the library before school? What did you do there?"  
"Work." Heero really didn't like Shing. There was something about the older man that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.  
"Heero works very hard and studies a lot. I don't see why though. He's smarter than a lot of people at school." Li Mei still had his hands trapped in her own and her fingers tightened around his. She leant slightly towards him, comforted by his warm aura. Before long, she was snuggling up against his side, well, as much as the seat belt would allow. It was like she was sinking into a steaming hot bath. She felt his aura wash over her and her eyes half closed in bliss. He was so warm...  
Heero looked down at her head and a warm smile flitted over his face before he became aware of the harsh glare being sent his way. He returned Shing's blazing look with one of his own.  
"Li Mei, perhaps you should leave Heero a little room." Shing said softly. Li Mei blinked but didn't straighten away from Heero. Shing frowned darkly. She blinked again as though she was waking up from sleep and straightened but she didn't let go of Heero's arm.  
"Saa, am I bothering you Heero?" She asked, almost sleepily. Shing's face darkened further as he narrowed his eyes dangerously. He didn't like what was happening here.  
"Hn." Heero grunted in reply as he glared at Shing.  
"See? Heero doesn't mind." She said, in the same sleepy tone she had used before. She settled down and hugged his arm to herself again. A moment later, she sat up straight and away from Heero, a look of embarrassment on her face.  
"Oh Heero! I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me!" She blushed deeply and looked down. Heero fought down the disappointment that crept up as he felt her warmth move away from him. But at least she was still holding onto his arm.  
"Hn." Li Mei looked at him shyly and settled back down against the seat. She hadn't realised it, but she was still holding onto his arm.  
"Li Mei." She winced at the sharp tone from Shing, surprise in her eyes. He'd never spoken to her like that before. She turned to face him, a guarded look in her eyes. Shing must have noticed it because she felt him force himself to calm down. His features softened and he tilted the corners of his lips upwards in a small smile.  
"Li Mei," He repeated in a softer tone, "we're almost home now."  
"Thank you." She murmured. She turned back to Heero, much to Shing's displeasure, and started to lean against him again, seeking the comfort of his aura. Shing's hands balled up into fists from where they lay on his knees and he grit his teeth. Li Mei belonged to him!  
Heero's eyes turned to him in that moment and he glared, his eyes flaring slightly with power. Surprise lit up the younger boy's face but then it was replaced with a glare of his own. Shing was taken aback by the power the boy suddenly seemed to radiate. He hadn't felt it before, but now it hit him like a wave. Heero's eyes glowed slightly, dark blue sparking from them. Li Mei's ears twitched, a sure sign that she could sense something and Shing forced himself to calm down. It wouldn't be a good thing if Li Mei caught him fighting with her friend. If there was one thing he knew about her, she was fiercely loyal and protective of those she considered friends.  
"Heero?" There was worry in her voice.  
"Hn." Heero gave one last look at Shing before casting his gaze out the window. Shing felt all evidence of his power wink out in that moment and he shivered slightly. He had a feeling that the boy was quite unconscious of the power that he had. But whether he actually knew of his powers or not, he was not someone to mess with.  
  
Li Mei shifted against Heero, her ears tingling. She could FEEL the power radiating off both males and it was enough to make her grit her teeth. It burned away at her senses and made her incredibly edgy. She could feel Shirin pressing against her consciousness.  
-- She could feel Shirin's amusement and groaned inwardly. The older soul would love to watch the two males fight, preferably to the death.  
--  
  
--  
-- Li Mei said irritably.  
-- Shirin purred hungrily. Her love of pain and violence was disconcerting and Li Mei frowned inwardly.  
--  
--  
-- Li Mei muttered in annoyance. This tension was really starting to get at her.  
--  
--  
--  
-- Li Mei asked suspiciously. She felt Shirin fumbling for an answer.  
--  
-- Li Mei felt dread wash through her. Shirin was quick to comfort her.  
--  
-- There was a pause.  
-- Shirin replied guiltily.  
-- Li Mei sighed deeply and she felt Heero's arm muscles jump as she moved restlessly against his side.  
-- Shirin said with a touch of distaste. -- Shirin's laugh trilled out as she mocked romance.  
-- Li Mei returned sarcastically. Shirin grinned in her mind.  
-- She paused. --  
Li Mei agreed with Shirin. Something would happen soon, and she couldn't help be feel as though Heero would play a pivotal role.  
  
--------------------------------------------------- [1] Remember? Daisuke decided to bring out a pair of butterfly knives when he was fighting with Heero in the first History chapter! [2] Okay, so I don't know any street names in Japan. So sue me. No, don't. I have no money. I don't even have a job T_T() Oh well. Um, yeah, that's a totally bogus name as you may have guessed. 


End file.
